1D A Perfect World by M.D. Jessie Devereux was worried. Okay, maybe anxious was a better description. Alright, close to outright terrified. She knew, just knew, this had been a horrible mistake from the start. "I've lost my mind," she murmured. Then caught herself in a laugh at the irony of this statement.Get ahold of yourself, she thought, this isn't helping. She counted to ten, then found herself well on her way to fifty before she mustered the courage to start moving her feet. She followed the rest of the passengers disembarking the transport towards the lines forming at customs. The station was bigger than she had imagined. Alot bigger. She tilted her head back to watch the enormous rounded, gleaming, metal walls come together high above her head. It made her feel extremely insignificant. And a bit nauseous. Gazing out into the crowd, almost in a daze, she saw a friendly-looking man in charge of one of the lines so she headed in his direction. "Have your Identicards and any pertinent documents out and ready please," he was saying. She gripped her flight bag, then tried to relax. Unzipping the bag, she started fumbling for her card. Looking around, she half expected to see an entire enforcement squad bearing down on her. All she saw was an elderly gentleman looking quizically at her. "Did you lose something, my dear?" She shook her head. "N-No," she stammered,"Long flights always get on my nerves. I'm not overly fond of them." He smiled at her." I know what you mean, especially these days." He patted his knee. "These old bones don't travel like they used to." He seemed about to say something else, then changed his mind as he noticed his wife headed in their direction. He gave her another smile and then moved off. Jessie let her breath out, not realizing she'd been holding it. Also, not aware it was her turn with the Security Officer in the customs line. "Ma'am?, May I have your card please?" She looked up into an amused pair of eyes. Flustered, she whipped her card out too quickly and promptly dropped it on the floor at his feet.She gasped, and dove for it before he could. "I'm, uh, I'm really sorry," she breathed, straightening up. He grinned,"It's okay, Ma'am, I've had worse things dropped at my feet in here." " And speaking of which.......," he held out his hand,"Would you like to try it again?" She almost giggled ,although she was sure it was more from her nerves and not so much from his stunning wit. "Oh sure, here," she passed him the card. Inside she was in a turmoil. Great way not to call any undue attention to yourself. She made a mental note to hit herself in the head later. "Miss Devereux," he intoned, sounding suspiciously pleased at the "Miss".He looked at the rest of her info while passing it thru the scanner. Unconsciously wringing her hands together, she waited for the order from him to carry her off to the brig or wherever it was they took people like her. What she actually heard was,"Well, Miss Devereux, this looks to be in order. Welcome to Babylon 5." Stunned, she opened her mouth and nothing came out. Finally, she managed to squeeze out, "Thank you, sir." He looked amused."Sir? That's not necessary Miss Devereux. I'm Allen. Zack Allen, Chief of Security," he held his hand out to take hers. She instinctively pulled her hand away, all the while processing what he just said. Chief of Security? Wonderful. She really knew how to pick em'. She might as well just get on the P.A system and announce to the whole staion who and what she was. He dropped his hand, seeming to sense he had done something he shouldn't, also sensing the rest of the natives were getting restless behind him. "Well, anyway, I see this is your first time on the Station, so if you need any assistance, don't hesitate to ask ." Jessie nodded then, perceiving, underneath her fear, that she was probably being read as extremely rude......or just stupid. She managed a pleasant look for him,"Thank you, Mr.Allen. I'll do that," she said, and walked off thru the gate trying to look as if she knew what she was doing. Zack looked down at his hand, still holding her card. He started to call her back but she was promptly swallowed up by the crowd. Then he smiled to himself , put it in his pocket, and turned to the next person in line to process them while motioning for one of his men to come and take over for him. "Thanks Robbie, I owe you one," he said when the officer got there. The short stocky Robbie just grinned at his superior officer. "Hey, no problem Chief." He hesitated then decided to say it anyway. "I saw her too. You better hurry up or you're gonna lose her." Zack gave him a withering look. "Stow it Michaels, I'm just returning her Identicard. She walked off without it." Robbie held up his hands,"Anything you say,Chief". He took the scanner from Zack, and watched him go. Another officer walked up to Robbie."So whattya want to bet, I say 20 credit chits she's not interested." Robbie laughed,"You're on. I think he's got an okay shot." The other officer looked doubtful. "Not a chance. Did you see the look on her face? Besides, you obviously didn't catch him in action at Earhart's the other night." They both started laughing until a few impatient coughs brought their attention back to their duties. Zack looked at the people milling about the terminal, studying station maps, trying to figure out which way they wanted to go. He had assumed it wouldn't be hard to spot her, with that pretty light auburn hair of hers. It had shone almost like a jewel under the lights. Reminded him of his mother's. His mother's, he thought, snorting. That wasn't exactly the image he was trying to conjure up. This was getting him nowhere. He decided to make his way to the reservation area. She'd probably be there, since she'd just arrived. Just then he felt a light tap on his arm. He turned around, expecting another lost Drazi conventioneer like the twelve he had helped this morning. The Drazi NEVER sent anyone to meet their people. It never failed to drive him up a tree. He practically froze, then, when he noted he'd just found exactly who he was looking for. Or rather, she'd found him. "Mr. Allen? I know I'm the last person you probably want to see right now, but you said if I had a problem.......," she trailed off. What was it with her, Zack wondered. She kept acting as if wolves were after her."Not at all,"he assured her. "In fact, I'm pretty sure what your problem is." He slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew her card. "Looking for this maybe?" A look of relief passed over her china-white features."Yes, thank you, that's exactly it. I got up to the reservations desk and noticed it was gone." At which she'd immediately panicked. "I had no idea where to start looking and then, well, I saw you." She took the card back and put it in her bag. Zack saw she was getting ready to get away from him again. "So,how do you like the station so far?" Ooooo, that was real bright. Good one Zack! She looked at him like he was nuts, too. "Well, it's uh, it's very...big. I've only seen it from the outside so far though. And the terminal. I'm sure it's very nice." What was she supposed to say? A fresh wave of passengers engulfed them, business men checking their chronometers, a group of Pac-Ma-Ra headed for the Alien Sector. Zack thought Jessie looked a tad overwhelmed. She was. She'd never seen anything like this on the colony. They didn't get too many Aliens on Proxima 3. At least, not where she lived. "If you don't mind my asking, you don't travel much do you?" Swell, this was exactly what she'd been trying to avoid and here she was, getting grilled by the Security Chief. Maybe a lil truth wouldn't hurt though. "No, actually, I don't. In fact, this is my first trip alone. I feel kind of out of my element. Anyway, thanks again for returning my card. I appreciate it." She prayed he would just leave already. "Well, I've got some time on my hands, if you'd like some help, I can escort you to your quarters. You said you had reservations, right?" Zack was a student of the 'sometimes you had to take the bull by the horns' doctrine. Before she could say anything he hustled her up to the desk and took care of her arrangements. Afterwards he turned to her. "See, nothing to it. Did you have any other luggage?" She shook her head. "No, just this bag." Zack tried to hide his surprise. "Ah, a light traveler. Always smart around these parts. Shall we?" He indicated her to walk beside him. It didn't look like she had much choice. Besides, she really didn't have an inkling as to how to find her room. Her mother had always told her she had the worst sense of direction of anyone she ever knew. "How long are you staying?"he asked, even though he'd seen on her reservation she was staying a week. If he kept her talking maybe she wouldn't run out on him. "Oh, uh, about a week. My connecting transport doesn't get here til Tuesday." "Really? Where are you headed?" She knew she better dodge that one. And fast. "No where in particular,"she lied. "I just thought I'd get out and have a look around. You know, like a vacation." He's never gonna buy that one. He didn't. He got a strange look on his face. "Kind of an odd time to be doing that, don't you think? A nice person like you could get yourself hurt, what with everything going on these days." "Oh no, my fa....someone booked everything for me. I'll be fine." Nice slip. Exactly why she'd been told, "minimum contact." She was NOT cut out for this. He didn't look like he believed her, and they were starting to tread dangerous ground anyway, so she changed the subject. "What's that up ahead?" She pointed, trying to look like an interested tourist. He followed her finger with his eyes."That? That's the Zocalo. Shopping district. All kinds of stores and booths and restaurants. A rather even balance between human and alien. Some of it's pretty exotic. Would you like to look around? I've got time. I don't have to get back right away." He warmed up to the subject. "You should see the Centauri jewelry kiosk. It's interesting to say the least. They've got some wild stuff. And over there we've got...." Zack went into tour guide overdrive. She cut him off. "No, that's okay, I'd really just like to get to my room." Zack's face fell. "I'm sorry, I've been talking your ear off. You're probably tired." She decided to take advantage of that. "Yeah, I'm real bushed."Jessie yawned for emphasis."I could stand a nap." "Don't worry," he said,"Your quarters aren't too far, now.We're almost there." He lightly touched her elbow and steered her towards the transport tube. "Just a couple of levels." She jumped at the contact. Okay, he thought, she really doesn't like to be touched. Better watch that. Inside the tube, she moved away from him and pretended to inspect her nails, hoping he would take the hint. It wasn't that she didn't like him. Matter of fact, she found him attractive, and he was being very helpful. It's just that her father had told her to keep to herself and not to attract any attention. The less contact she had with anyone, the less chance she would have for getting into trouble. Zack was not to be deterred. For some reason he really liked this girl. Maybe it was the White Knight Syndrome. She definitely seemed like a maiden in distress, if anyone did. It didn't hurt that she was a lovely woman, either. Something about her though, he mused. She sure didn't act like the type to go galivanting around the galaxy on "holiday" while there was a civil war going on.Then again, he'd seen stranger things during his tenure here. The doors opened, and they walked out, around the corner and down the hall. "This is the visitors' center. Your room should be on the left. Aaaand......voila'! Here you are. Number 774." He made an exaggerated flourish. She couldn't help laughing. He was trying so hard. It couldn't hurt to be nice. "Thank you noble sir. You've been extremely helpful." She half curtsied. "I thought I told you to call me Zack." "You didn't." "Oh, well, I am now." "In that case, thank you Zack. Really, you've been a big help. I appreciate it." Zack considered putting his hand out then remembered what happened the last time. "So, do you know how to work the key lock and everything?" He was stalling for time. "Yeah, I think I can figure it out." "Okay then," he swung his arms back and forth,"I guess I ought to let you rest or whatever." Thanking him for about the umpteenth time today, she made a move for the door. He figured it was now or never. "Look, I know you just got here, and you're alone, so I assume you don't know anybody here and.....Alright ,I'm just blabbering here and about to make a complete fool of myself so could you save us both some time and have dinner with me tonight?" She felt caught between horror and delight. Everything in her was telling her to say no. He saw her hesitate and took it as a good sign."There's this wonderful place called the Fresh Air. It's real nice, trees and plants, almost like an al fresco place back on Earth. You'd love it." He tried to think of a clincher. All he could think of was, "Please?" Against her better judgement, she was beginng to relax around him. But he asked alot of questions. If she went out with him.....it didn't seem like a good idea. On the other hand, what if she said no? He was very persistent. He might decide to look into her background. Being the Chief, he probably had all kinds of sources. Who knew what he could dig up? Maybe she'd be better off trying to placate him with a date. She lifted her gaze, then made her decision. "I....well....yes. Why not? I have to eat, and with my skills, I probably couldn't find a restaurant in this place if I had a bloodhound." Zack's whole face lit up. "Really?! I mean, um, great , that's really....great! So I'll come back around 18:00 hours? That'll give you a chance to rest and do, uh, whatever," he finished weakly. Jessie nodded,"Fine, I'll be ready. See you then." And quickly dissappeared thru the door. Zack couldn't believe she'd said yes so fast. He was convinced he was going to have to beg. Perhaps he was better than he thought. Either that or she was just very, very lonely and hadn't seen a decent male in a long time. Who cared? He had a date with a very pretty, if somewhat shy, young woman. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, trying not to appear too pleased with himself, and then headed back towards Customs to gloat. Chapter Two Jessie, on the other hand, walked straight to the bed in her room,and threw herself face down on it. She was emotionally exhausted. And when she was exhausted, that's when she lost control, and when she lost control, that's when the headaches started. She rolled over and removed a small black case from inside her jacket. The one that had arrived two weeks after her mother's death, along with the list of instructions from her father. Sleepers. She wished she could use it now, it'd be a relief, but she'd been told to save it. Save it for an emergency or until she got to Mars. But she didn't want to think about Mars right now either. Sighing, she turned her face towards the wall. Blessing, curse, she'd heard it descibed as both. Mostly curse from her mother when she had been in a particularly bitter mood. That is, until it had manifested in Jessie almost 2 years ago.Then she tried to avoid the subject. All Jessie knew was that she hadn't asked for it. But then, neither had any other telepath she'd ever heard of. Not that she knew any. Except her father. Her eyes welled up with tears. She swiped at them with her hand. Well, she'd be seeing him soon enough. That was the plan anyway. If she didn't manage to screw it up. The first and last time she'd ever been with her father was four years ago, just after her 16th birthday. Before that, all she'd ever seen of him were vids. Twice a year, for as far back as she could remember, a data crystal bearing his voice and image would arrive at their small apartment on Proxima 3 from Earth. It was scrambled, but they had the code. Jessie and her mother never knew how he managed it and they knew better than to ask. Following his instructions,they addressed their bi-annual reply to him to a processing plant in Old New Orleans. Jessie used to think that was funny. Her mother didn't. In fact she had usually cried on and off for days after the reply was sent, then she'd go back to her usual sunny self. The spring of her sixteenth year she'd been in physics class when her mother called the school. Jessie was needed at home immediately. Family emergency. Jessie had been almost frantic. The only "family" was her mother and herself, and she knew she was fine. She arrived breathless at the apartment and let herself in. Her mother was standing in the hallway with 2 suitcases, one of them hers. "What's wrong? Are you alright? Mom?". Celeste Devereux took the books from her daughter's arms, replaced them with a suitcase and said,"Honey, I don't mean to scare you but I don't have time to explain. We're going on a trip. We won't be gone long. I already talked to your school." All the while hustling her down the hall and back outside. "Mom, what is it?" Her mother made a motion at her that she'd recognized since age 3 meaning , 'not now'. She followed behind her mother and stayed quiet while they went outside and caught an automated cab, her mind whirling. Once inside her mother gave instructions to take them to the outer edges of the colony, somewhere Jessie had never been. That's where the flight terminals were, the import/export offices, warehouses, etc. And hotels ,of course, for temporary visitors. She turned a questioniong face towards her mother. For some odd reason she seemed to be avoiding looking at Jessie. She was wringing her hands in her lap, a family trait, and seemed to be trying to gather herself together. "Mom? Please, you're scaring me.What's going on?" Celeste Devereux was thirty-five years old but she looked about 25, with her long cinnamon hair falling over her shoulders and gleaming green "cat's eyes". Jessie had always been proud of her mother's looks and secretly hoped someday she might turn out half as beautiful. She turned to Jessie now and drew herself up in her seat. "Jessie honey, I, that is we..." She stopped and took Jessie's hand in hers and squeezed. Hard. "Sweetheart, we got a message from your father today. About two hours ago." That didn't seem right. It'd only been three months since the last time. "Is he alright, did something happen? He's not sick is he?" She thought of that strong baritone voice of his, the dark chestnut waves of his hair in her favorite vid. She must have watched that vid a million times. It was made right before her parents' wedding. She couldn't imagine that man ever being sick or hurt. Her mother's eyes widened. "No, no honey, he's fine. I didn't mean to scare you with all this." She hugged her daughter to her. "It's just that he's, he's....uh," she hesitated for a second trying to get her shaking voice under control. "Honey, he's here." She saw her daughter's uncomprehending look and tried to make her understand. "Jessie, your Dad's here. On Proxima 3. He's waiting for us at the Mirage Hotel." She pulled a kleenex from her satchel and dabbed at her eyes. "I don't know how he managed it. We're going straight to the hotel. He said he'd explain everything when we got there." Jessie couldn't quite take it all in. But she knew it had to be true. Her mother's face was radiant through the tears. Jessie didn't think she'd ever seen her mother's face look that happy before.She listened to the rain that had started to come down patter against the windows of the taxi, trying to put it all together. Celeste stroked Jessie's hair back from her forehead. "You're finally going to see your father. Oh God, it's been so long.......almost seventeen years now." Her mother's eyes filled again. Jessie could tell she was fighting for control. "I know this is alot to spring on you. I darned near had a coronary of my own, Hon, but aren't you happy?" Happy? Jessie wasn't sure that was the word she would choose. Stunned was more like it. She'd imagined this happening more times than she could count. It hadn't gone anything like this. "Yeah, Mom, I'm happy, just a little turned around by all this." "Mom?" "What sweetie?" "How long is he staying?" Celeste Devereux instantly knew what her daughter was getting at. "What?" Jessie narrowed her eyes."You heard me, how long is he staying?" Celeste knew her daughter wasn't dumb so she decided to play it straight. "He's leaving tomorrow night," she said quietly. Jessie finally felt the force of her emotions cresting. Now it was her turn to cry. "I knew it! I knew it," she sobbed. "Oh Jessie, don't cry!" Celeste reached for her daughter. Jessie pushed her arms away and retreated into the corner of the cab. A minute went by before she spoke. "When were you planning on telling me," she sniffled, "before or after he was gone?" Celeste looked at her helplessly,"Honey, do you honestly think I don't want things to be different? That your Father wasn't a Psi-Cop, and in a forced marriage to another telepath? That I don't wish he was a norm and could be a regular husband and father and we'd all stay together? Jessie, this has been difficult for all of us. Things shouldn't be like this but they are. You probably don't want to hear this now, Lord knows I don't, but we should be thankful for what we've got. You've got a mother who couldn't begin to live without you and a father who doesn't have a night or day go by that he doesn't think of you." Jessie wasn't having any of that. "I've got a father who I'll see, for, what?For the first time in my life? Twenty four hours in sixteen years? And then what?" "Jessie." "No mother, you listen to me! Why doesn't he just leave the Corp?" Her mother said four words. Four words she knew by heart. "Nobody leaves the Corp." "Then why......." "Jessie, just stop it. I know you're upset but this isn't helping. You know why I had to come out to this Godforsaken colony and why he can't ever let them know that I was pregnant when I left Earth." Celeste locked eyes with her. "You both think I might be one of them. A telepath." "We don't know Jessie. But if we were on Earth and they knew that he had a daughter, they'd be watching you like a hawk. And if you ever.....", her mother faltered. "If you ever manifested telepathic abilities they'd take you. Just like they took Edward. And we'd probably never see each other again. Like Edward. And I won't let that happen do you hear me? Neither will your father. We made this decision a long time ago, before you were born, before he was taken from me. I won't lose you too. Not ever." They rode in silence for a good ten minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Jessie spoke. "But Mom, what if I don't ever become telepathic?" "Then we'll get down on our knees and thank the good Lord for sparing you." "I'm sixteen already. Nothing's happened." "Your father was 20 when he found out." Jessie considered that, "So what will we do if it ever does happen?" "We'll worry about that if and when it does. No use getting frantic about that now." "You don't call hiding out on Proxima 3 for sixteen years getting frantic?" "Don't talk to me like that honey. I've tried to do what was best." Jessie felt remorseful. "I'm sorry Mom. I didn't mean to act like that. I just...." "Yes you did, and it's alright. You've got a right to be angry. We all do. In a perfect world, none of this would ever have happened. Unfortunately, we don't live there. God knows I wish we did." She sighed, and smiled tiredly at her daughter. She laced their fingers together. "I love you honey." "I love you too, Mom" Her mother seemed to catch her breath for just a moment, then relax."There's something else I think I should tell you,dear." Jessie looked alarmed."What?" Celeste pointed out the window and across the street as the cab pulled to a stop. "There's your father." Chapter Three Jessie pulled herself out of her reverie. This wasn't getting her anything but the beginnings of a migraine. She got up from the bed and walked to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face. Suppressing a sigh, she turned around and surveyed the room. Tired as she was, she didn't think she was going to get any rest right now. Her stomach was in knots. It'd been an hour since she'd got here. She had a good 3 hours before her "date" with the security officer. Jessie couldn't remember the last time she'd gone out on a date. She'd 'gone' with guys in school occasionally, of course, but she hadn't gone out with anyone since she became a telepath. Her mother hadn't exactly forbidden it, she was eighteen when it happened, but she knew she had worried constantly that if someone got too close to Jessie they'd find out. As for Jessie, it didn't seem to matter much one way or the other. The problem was she was a telepath with no instruction whatsoever. It had been hard enough for her to keep control of her "gift" at home, let alone in crowds, so she hadn't been that keen on going out anyway. Sure, her father had been informed when they'd become aware of her abilities, and he'd stepped up his recordings to every 3 months instead of six,at great risk, so as to form some semblance of training for her, but it didn't help her a whole lot. What she needed was hands on guidance. A teacher who could physically help her and nurture her thru the process. Jessie never said anything to her mother, but secretly thought maybe Psi-Corp wasn't such a bad idea in that respect. The best, and most useful thing, she'd ever been taught was "the wall". Building an imaginary wall in her mind to keep out all the noise and interference of other people's thoughts. She hadn't perfected it yet. Things still leaked in occasionally, and it was hard to keep up for long periods of time, but she was getting better at it every day. Or she had been til a few months ago when the headaches started. She'd also been taught how to do a surface scan on someone. And how to look for a particular piece of information, if it was ever needed. But her father and mother both had expressly forbidden her from doing that, ever, unless she'd been given permission. But how was she supposed to get permission if she couldn't tell anybody she was a telepath? Jessie felt the headache start again. This would all go away, she told herself , when she finally got to her father on Mars. He'd help and show her what to do. Until then, she was on her own. She grabbed her bag from the bedside dresser and started digging thru it. There weren't very many clothes in there, so there wasn't much use in unpacking, but at least it gave her something to do. Most of what she owned was left in storage on Proxima 3. Who was she kidding though? She'd never see those things again. Once she got to Mars and her father left Psi-Corp they'd be on the run. She pushed it out of her mind. Why think about that now? At least she had a week to recuperate before the REAL fun started. She finished unpacking into the little dresser across from the bed. Then she checked the chronometer on the wall mounted terminal. It was set to Earth Standard time. Well, golly,that took care of a whopping five minutes. Running her fingers thru her shoulder length hair she thought about killing some time with a vibe shower to get rid of the travel grime. She almost jumped thru her skin when the terminal beeped. "In station call for Jessie Devereux," noted the gentle female voice of the computer. Jessie wondered how she could possibly be receiving an in station call. She didn't know anyone, except Mr. Security Chief. She was a little annoyed. Couldn't he leave her alone for an hour? She approached the terminal with her hands on her hips. "Computer,display call." She was surprised to see, not Zack, but a pleasant looking older woman on the other end. "Miss Devereux?" Jessie nodded. "Good! I'm Liza Sherry, with the B5 visitor's welcoming committee, Human Services division. How do you do? Is there anything you need or require? Can we be of assistance to you in any way? We're here to help you." Jessie found her tongue. "No, I don't think so. I mean, I'm fine, thank you for asking." "Good, good! Is your room satisfactory? Do you have any questions? You know, if you're interested, there are guided tours for visitors. Either group or private. If you like, I can show you where to access the information for times and rates." This cheerful woman appeared well suited to her job. She seemed ultimately thrilled to be able to offer her services. "No, no, I'm all set, thanks. Everything's fine." "Well good, then I'll leave you to it. If you should need anything, just contact me here at Human Services. Ask for Liza." "Thank you." "No thank YOU, Miss Devereux, have a pleasant stay." She smiled one more time as the screen winked out. "End Transmission," said the computer. Jessie stood there, musing. Then she accessed the computer. She'd thought of something she did need. "Computer, display map of Babylon 5." "Input clearance level please," the computer voiced. That made sense. You don't exactly go around letting everyone know where the, say, weapons rooms or fighter bays are. Jessie consulted the pamphlet that was set on the dresser. "Clearance level, visitor, Alpha, #774." "Clearance level, visitor, Alpha, #774, granted. Displaying map." "Computer, print map." "Working.......(chime)........map printing, now." Well look at that. Everything laid out in proportion to where her room was. Color coded too. Tailor made for the dysfunctional traveler. They sure saw her coming. She took the map and laid it on the bed, then headed for the shower.When she was done, she intended to brave the challenge of finding a shop. A dress shop to be more precise. Edward had made sure his daughter had more than enough credits in her account to get to him. She decided to use the extra for something decent to wear tonight, considering she had brought nothing appropriate with her. When you intended to be a fugitive, one did not bring along an evening gown and high heels. Besides it would be fun. Jessie figured she deserved a little of that. She even found herself looking forward to tonight. And thinking of Zack. He was handsome, there was no denying that. At least she thought so. And she found it funny how he had kept subconsciously pulling at his uniform, as if it didn't fit. She'd seen nothing wrong with it. In fact she'd liked the way it looked on him.. Jessie blushed at that, and slipped into the shower. Chapter Four Zack hurried toward his quarters in Blue Sector, where the command staff was housed. Command staff. He still wasn't used to being included in that group. He preferred the 'good ole days' when he was second in command in Security. It wasn't that he didn't like his new found authority, he just didn't like how he'd gotten it. Michael Garibaldi had been his boss, his mentor, and most of important of all, a good friend. It was lousy what had been happening around here lately. Mr. Garibaldi no longer seemed to trust the Captain, whom he had trusted about as much as he'd ever trusted anybody, except perhaps his best friend and former Commander, Jeffrey Sinclair, who was gone now. Garibaldi was notorious for being paranoid but this appeared to go beyond that. He didn't agree with any of the Captain's ideas, and had made his feelings about him known, saying Sheridan had changed since his brush with death within the hellish bowels of Za'ha'dum. Consequently he had resigned his post as Chief of Security, leaving Zack to take over. For his part, Zack harbored hope that one day his friend would come around and take back the job that he was meant for. Until then, he would do his best to fill the position. Which included long and tedious, but important, staff meetings which he had just attended, and which in turn was presently making him late for his date. Lord knows he respected Captain Sheridan but he could sure be a windbag when he wanted to. His footfalls echoed down the corridor as he kept himself from breaking into a run. In two minutes time, he wished he could run, when he saw who was rounding the corner and heading straight for him. Don't make eye contact and he'll go away, he thought. No such luck. "Ahhhhh, Mr. Allen! And how are you this fine evening?" Zack blew air between his lips and tried to look cordial. "Fine, Ambassador Mollari, and yourself?" The imperious Centauri ,who had been preening, stopped and looked offended. He wagged a finger at Zack as if he were a naughty little schoolboy that was in need of a reprimand. "Tut-tut, Mr. Allen, that's 'Minister' Mollari now, or have you forgotten?" Zack would've liked to tell Minister Mollari exactly what he could go and do with his title. A description that would've included various anatomical references. Not wishing to start a small war, they'd had enough of those for the moment thank you, he said,"Forgive me, Minister, I guess I've become too accustomed to calling you Ambassador. I'll pay attention to that in the future." Now was one of those times he wished Garibaldi was here. He'd had a certain rapport with the blustering official. He wouldn't have hesitated to tell Londo to go to hell, or the Centauri equivalent of it. Zack was not so fortunate. "Yes, well, see that you do." Londo gripped the lapels of his statesmen's outfit, and strutted off down the corridor, muttering something about idiotic humans who wouldn't know an important man if he walked up and bit them on the leg. Zack felt like banging his head against the wall. He now had exactly ten minutes to go to his quarters, get cleaned up, and get to Jessie Devereux's place on time. He could do it. If he was a magician. Seeing that he wasn't, he took off like a shot, and prayed to the Almighty Dating Goddess that Jessie was an understanding person, and wouldn't be angry with him if he was late. Jessie was in her room, praying to the Almighty Dating god that Zack was an understanding person and wouldn't be angry with her if she was running late. Time had gotten away from her while she was shopping. Getting lost and ending up at the refuse recycling place instead of the Visitor's level had absolutely nothing to do with it. So much for the color coded map. The problem was this stupid barrette she'd bought from the Centauri jewelry kiosk Zack had mentioned. It refused to hold more than two hairs at a time. She'd thought it was strange at the time when she bought it. Centauri women didn't HAVE any hair. The older ones usually didn't anyway. She remembered reading that somewhere. Damnit! She threw the barrette down on the dresser and dug out some good old Human bobby pins from her bag. She quickly put her hair up with those and then stuck the barrette on top like a Christmas star. There! Whose to say that's not what you were supposed to do with it anyway? She stepped back and checked herself in the mirror on the wall, smoothing the satiny folds of the dress over her hips. The black satin slip dress she'd found was perfect. She spun herself and enjoyed the way it swirled around her calves. She added a necklace and earring set of silver that had belonged to her mother and studied the effect. It was nice to have a reason to get dressed up again. The last time had been her mother's funeral, about a month ago. Jessie frowned. She was determined not to let anything get in the way of her enjoyment tonight. She'd had a little talk with herself while shopping and convinced herself there was no reason to be apprehensive about going out with Zack tonight. Just keep the conversation light and away from sensitive areas. She sat down on the bed to put her shoes on and suddenly the door chimed. She glanced at the clock. 18:05 hours. Well, at least she wasn't the only one who was late. She quickly slipped her shoes on , rushed to the door, and activated the intercom. "Who is it?" She wanted to make sure it was him. It was. "It's Zack Allen. I'm sorry I'm late. I sort of got hung up in a staff meeting. I hope you're not mad." She keyed the lock. As the door drew open Zack was struck speechless. She looked like a princess in a picture book. All she needed was a tiara. "Hi,"she said. "C'mon in. Don't worry about it. I'm not exactly on schedule myself." Zack recovered his wits and stepped in. He offered her a gorgeous pink rosebud. "This is for you." Jessie reached out for it. "Oh, Zack! How lovely. You didn't have to do that." Zack gazed at her. "It's not as lovely as you are. You look beautiful." God, did she look beautiful. He was glad he'd thought to put on his spiffy new command coat over his uniform. She was dressed like someone who ought to be escorted by a guy in white tie and tails. Jessie ducked her head at the compliment."Just let me put my gloves on and we can go." She laid the rose on the nightstand, picked up a pair of wrist-length black gloves and smoothed them on. She spread her arms out. "I'm ready when you are." Zack was surprised. She was acting a lot more cheerful and open than she had this afternoon. Oh well, maybe she'd just been having a bad day. He grinned, "Let's go then. After you, m'lady." Jessie flashed him a smile and walked out into the hallway. He joined her and was taken aback when she took his arm. He looked down at her and laid his hand over hers,"I'm glad you said yes, Miss Devereux." Jessie looked back up at him and her smile turned mischievous. "I thought I told you to call me Jessie." He took his cue. "You didn't." "Oh, well, I am now." "In that case, I'm glad you said yes, Jessie." "You know something, Zack? So am I. Now let's go eat. I'm starved." Jessie desperately tried to keep herself from gaping when they walked into the Fresh Air restaurant. Zack wasn't kidding. This place was fabulous! They did a pretty good job of making you forget you were on a space station and not dining outside back on Earth or one of the colonies. It resembled a fetching garden with tables carelessly strewn here and there. More trees and plants than she could name filled the place and a wonderful trellis covered in roses and ferns stood at the entrance. She swore she heard faint birdsong underneath the melodic strains of violin music filtering thru the establishment. She briefly wondered how much dinner here would cost. This kind of thing couldn't be cheap. "Did I tell you? Is this place great or what?" "It's amazing Zack. How did they manage to do all this up here?" "Ahhhh, one of the great mysteries of the Universe. Can't tell you!" She squeezed his arm."Don't be silly." "I'm serious, it's a secret!" "Fine, I didn't want to know anyway." He laughed. "Just wait. You ain't seen nothin' yet." A tall, lean gentleman walked up to them just then and playfully slapped Zack on the back. "Well, if it isn't our new Chief of Security. How's it going Zack?" Zack shook his hand. "Great, Carlo, can't complain." Carlo took in the woman on Zack's arm. "I should say not. And may I ask who this lovely young lady is?" Zack presented Jessie proudly. "Carlo, this is Jessie Devereux. She just arrived this afternoon. I figured I'd try to impress her with your little dive here." Carlo ignored the shot. "Jessie, a pleasure to meet you." "Jessie, this is Carlo D'Amico. He runs this greasepit you see before you." Jessie suppressed her laughter."Nice to meet you too, Carlo." "The pleasure's all mine, Jessie. And when you're tired of this insignificant little gnat's buzzing, you can come see me." "Not if you're wife has anything to say about it." Zack said pointedly. "What Donna doesn't know, won't hurt her." "I'll be sure to tell her you said that." "You do and I'll permanently seat you next to the kitchen whenever you come." "Threats, threats. I presume our table is ready?" "If not for your beautiful friend here, I would direct you to the greasy spoon around the corner. Though even their swill is probably too good for you." Zack laid his hand upon his chest as though wounded."I give, I give! I humbly apologize and beseech your forgiveness." Carlo turned to Jessie. "Jessie, I'll be seating you at the best table in the house. It's none of my concern who you bring along, as long as they behave themselves." Jessie pretended to nod gravely. "I vouch for him." Carlo looked amused. "Now I KNOW you two just met. Good luck . You're going to need it." He ceremoniously swept two menus into his hands and told them to follow him. He led them in and out of the tables with a practiced gait, rounded a booth and stopped. "There it is. Best spot in the house." Jessie saw a little round table for two set with a white damask and lace tablecloth and fine bone china with gilded edges. Sterling silver cutlery and napkin rings and two white tapered candles, just lit, graced the table.Two etched crystal flutes waited to be filled with the champagne that was sitting next to the table in an iced bucket. And to top it all off it was placed in front of .......... "A fountain!" Jessie exclaimed. A fountain in the shape of two swans kissing,with soft rivulets of water tinkling gently down the bowl. Jessie wasn't the only one surprised. Zack pulled Carlo to one side."I know I asked for the best table, but all this......," he gestured questioningly at the sumptuous set up. Carlo explained in a low tone."Do you remember when Clark's forces attacked last year and Donna was in your group down in Brown Sector and she was wounded?" "Yeah." "Remember you're the one who made sure the meds took her in the first group, and then came and told me yourself that she was going to be okay?" "Yeah, but..." " No buts. Just consider this payback. A favor from both of us. Besides," he waved in Jessie's direction, "how often do you meet a charming lady such as that?" "Thanks man, I owe you." "I'd say we're even. Also, Donna wants to get in good with the new boss. She's due for a raise," he joked. "Now, I'll get you two seated and then you're on your own." D'Amico held Jessie's chair for her and then Zack's and told them to order anything they wanted, as it was on the house, then discreetly took his leave. "That was very nice of him,"Jessie observed. "Yeah, he's a good guy. His wife is one of our best officers. A crack shot. Nobody likes to go to the target range with her. Including me." Zack shook his head. Jessie smiled wryly,"Aw, c'mon. You can't be that bad." "You haven't seen me yet." They settled down and perused their menus. "Not too much in the way of meat," Jessie said. "At least not Earth meat." "Yeah, well, with the blockade and everything, it's a little hard to come by." "Oh." Jessie flushed. Why didn't she think of that? " I guess I'm just used to life on the colony. There's stuff that's scarce, of course, but we have plenty of beef and pork because of all the farms." "Well, maybe I'll talk to the Captain and we can try and acquire some from there. I'm getting sick of gruel." She glanced at the menu. "I'd hardly call this gruel. How'd you get fruit?" "Well, we do have a hydroponics bay, and we managed to score some more from a raider." "That is," Zack corrected himself quickly,"a trader who was passing through." She let that one go. With what she was planning to do, she was hardly in a position to judge. She understood desperation all too well. Something caught her eye. "What's spoo?" Zack turned slightly green. "They must really be desperate if that's on the menu." "What is it?" "You don't want to know. I'll tell you after we eat some real food." "I think the greek salad looks good. How about you?" "That sounds good to start with. What do you say to duck?" "Duck? How can they have duck?" "I don't think it's really duck. They probably killed something they couldn't identify Down Below and decided to call it duck." Jessie made a face."Down Below?" "Never mind, I'll explain that later too.So what do you say?" "I've never had duck, but I'm game." She smirked. "Ohhh, Jessie, that was awful. No more bad puns on an empty stomach, okay? Give a guy a break." They gave their orders to the waiter and decided to pop the bubbly while they waited. "Mmmm. I only tasted champagne once. About four years ago. Mother always said it was fattening anyway." Zack knew she was 20 from her info. "Sweet Sixteen party?" "Something like that." He watched the halo that gathered around her face from the candlelight. Very bewitching. This was the kind of girl you could fall in love with. Pretty, quick witted, sweet but a little shy. Almost too good to be true. Garibaldi always told him if it seemed to good to be true, it probably was. And the reason she gave for her traveling still pricked at him. It had sounded like a very bad story she'd made up on the spot. He'd heard better ones from people he'd escorted to the brig. "So, you're from Proxima 3?" Jessie almost choked on her champagne. Here we go, she thought. She'd been wondering when he was going to get around to this. She nodded."Born and raised." "Any brothers or sisters?" "Nope. I'm an only child." Zack thought she seemed a little defensive. "How about your parents?" Jessie stared straight at him. "Do you always interrogate your dates like this?" Whoa. This was off to a bad start. "No. I didn't mean to offend you. I just wanted to know something about you. I'm sorry, I'll stop." She examined her hands, which were currently twisting her napkin into an interesting shape. She dropped the napkin."No, I'm the one who's sorry. Look, my parents are both dead, Zack. My father died before I was born, and my mother just passed away about a month ago. I guess I'm still pretty upset. I don't like to talk about it, that's all." Half a lie, half a truth. Hopefully, that would hold him, and make him feel bad enough to stop. She didn't like manipulating him but she didn't have a choice. Zack didn't know what to say. He hadn't expected that for an answer. "Jessie, I'm really, really sorry. I feel like such a jerk. I didn't know." He leaned across the table and reached for her hand. She hesitated, then took it. "Zack, it's okay. Don't worry about it. Let's just talk about something else, alright?" "Deal." He racked his brains. "So......whattya think about the weather?" She burst out laughing. "I dunno. Awfully dry lately, don't you think? Could use some rain." He squeezed her hand and then let go. The waiter showed up just then and they dug into their salads while making small talk. When the main course arrived Zack was regaling her with tales of various skirmishes on the station. He was in the middle of a very exciting story when she started to feel a slight pressure in her temples. She ignored it at first but in about twenty minutes' time it wouldn't allow itself to be ignored. Jessie tried not to panic when she recognized it for what it was. The "wall" was coming down. She always felt tremendous pressure right before the dam broke. It had to be all the people on the station, mixed with her present emotional upheaval. She hadn't been prepared for this and it was starting to wear on her. She'd been losing control alot lately. More often than was usual. Her father had finally confided to her in his note that he thought this might be due to the fact that her powers were growing. She'd never been tested, obviously, but it was possible that she might be growing into the range of a P8 or higher. Maybe as high as P10. They might not have known this before because she never deliberately used her abilities. She spent all her time attempting to suppress them. Sooner or later that situation was going to come to a head. Jessie put her hand to her forehead and attempted to build the barrier backup. She was slammed with a wave of foreign thoughts and almost fell out of her chair. Finally, Zack noticed something was amiss. He peered at her through the dim lighting. "Jessie, are you alright? You don't look so good. Is something wrong?" Yeah, I'm losing my mind, that's what's wrong, she thought. "No. I'm okay," she managed to get out. "I'm just a little dizzy." She searched for an excuse."It's probably the champagne, I'm not used to it." She got up slowly and her head spun. "Would you excuse me? I need to go to the ladies' room. I'll be right back." Zack got up from his chair but she'd already turned and headed away from the table. He sat back down and waited. Jessie barely made it to the rest room, thankful to find it empty. She winced under the harsh lighting and leaned against the wall. I can do this, she told herself. She tried to envision a protective brick wall but it was immediately smashed by another volley of thoughts not her own. She felt the panic rising within her. Why hadn't she done what she'd been told? She should have told Zack no, and stayed in her room the entire week, until it was time to go. Too late now. She clenched her fists and conjured up an iron wall this time, imagining nothing could break through it's thickness. The pain decreased slightly inside her head. Good. Just keep that up. It seemed to be working for the moment. Waiting a minute, then two, it appeared to hold. Jessie knew she had to get out of there and isolate herself. She'd just go back and tell Zack she wasn't feeling well, and needed to lie down. He couldn't object if she was sick. All she had to do was make it to the room without breaking her shield. Jessie left the rest room and sluggishly started to retrace her steps back towards the table. Zack had been keeping an eye out for her. He took one look at her and a gut feeling instantly told him she was definitley NOT okay. He got up again, intending to meet her. Then he saw her start to sway. "Jessie?", he called to her. "Jessie!" A tremendous burst of pain, light, and noise went off inside Jessie's mind. She faintly cried out, and just had time to see Zack reach her side and grab for her before she slowly sank into welcome oblivion. Chapter Five Zack was running alongside the mobile med unit, trying to hang on to Jessie's hand, and dodge the ministrations of the techs as they worked on her on their way to Med Lab. He'd called them immediately after Jessie collapsed and had cradled her in his arms until they got there. Rolling into Med Lab they were met by Dr. Stephen Franklin. Zack was never so happy to see him before. "Doc, please, you've gotta help her." Franklin took charge. He approached his new patient and said, "Okay, people, what's the story with this one?" One of the tech's spoke up. "Female. Twenty years old. She collapsed for unknown reasons and hasn't regained consciousness." He preceded to give her vital signs to the doctor. "How long has she been out?" Everyone looked at Zack. "About ten minutes now. I called you immediately after she went down." Stephen continued talking while he looked her over. "Do you know her?" "Yeah, well, sort of. I just met her this afternoon. I took her to dinner at the Fresh Air and then this......" He gestured at Jessie's unconscious form. "Did anything unusual happen before she collapsed? Did she act ill or seem tired? Fatigued?" Zack went over the previous events. "She complained of being tired this afternoon. I thought it was just jet lag. We were eating and she seemed fine until about halfway through when I noticed she didn't look so hot. I asked if she was okay and she said the champagne had gone to her head and excused herself to the rest room. She was gone about 5 minutes or so, came back out, and was coming towards me when she started to pass out. I caught her and then I called you." "Alright, her pressure's a little erratic and her breathing's on the shallow side but she doesn't seem to be in any other distress." Franklin pointed to another tech. "I want a complete work up on her. Let me know if you find anything. And get a monitor on her and some oxygen. Try and stabilize her blood pressure and I'll be with you in a minute." He led Zack over to the side while they wheeled Jessie to another room. Zack turned to him. "Is she gonna be okay? I mean, she was fine a few minutes before." Stephen patted him on the shoulder. "I could tell you not to worry but I can see you're going to anyway so I won't. I haven't run any tests yet but at the moment I can't find anything wrong with her other than her blood pressure. This kinda thing happens to travelers all the time. They don't eat right, they don't sleep right. Changes in cabin pressure from one transport to another. It could just be simple exhaustion. Don't get upset until there's a reason to. Her background info's in the computer?" "Yeah." "I'll access her medical history, make sure there isn't something there we need to worry about. As for you, why don't you take a walk or whatever til we check her out. I'll call you if anything happens or if she comes to." "Nah, I'd rather hang around if you don't mind." "Somehow I knew you were going to say that. Okay, you can stay, but keep out from underfoot. Someone'll come get you when we know something." "Thanks Stephen." "No problem, Zack." Franklin trotted thru the door where they'd taken Jessie. Zack found himself a chair at an empty workstation and sat down. What a day this was shaping up to be. He was off tonight, but he called the station house anyhow and let them know what'd happened and where he'd be. Then he leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. "Zack?" He opened his eyes slowly. For a split second, he saw a shapely female with reddish hair dressed in black standing over him and thought it was Jessie. Then his head cleared. "Lyta? Hi." He wondered what the somewhat reserved telepath was doing down in Med Lab. "Did you want something?" She rested her eyes on him and shifted position. "I'm not sure, exactly," she said hesitantly. Zack wasn't feeling up to playing games at the moment. "And just what ARE you sure of then?" Instantly he regretted his irritable tone. "Sorry. I'm in the middle of an extremely bad day. Can I do something for you?" She pointed to the door. "Maybe I should come back later." "No, no, it's fine, what is it?" "Well, are there any other telepaths on board? Human?" "There's a couple of our's that are coming back from being assigned to Alien governments during the Shadow War, why?" "Did any of them just get hurt?" "Not that I'm aware of ." She seemed to be thinking something over. "You want to let me know what all this is about?" He'd always kind of liked Lyta even though others tended to shy away from her, especially since she'd been closely associated with the Vorlons recently. Being a telepath was bad enough but you throw Vorlons into the mix and people get nervous. "A little while ago I felt.......something." She looked perplexed."I was walking thru the Zocalo and I just sensed something. Like someone in pain. It was so brief I just dismissed it but then, a couple minutes later, I felt this tremendous sense of jumbled emotions and extreme pain. And a mind's echo of a person crying out. It was like slamming into a wall. Very strong. I can't explain it to you but it left a kind of trail so I followed it." "Where'd it go?" "The Fresh Air Restaurant." Zack was stunned. He felt like the wind had been knocked out of him with a shovel to the stomach. "Did you say the Fresh Air?" "Yes, I got there and someone told me they'd just taken a woman to Med Lab." She had to be mistaken. Had to be. "What makes you think she was a telepath?" "Only a telepath could broadcast that loudly. I'd guess a pretty strong one too." Oh God. This was getting worse and worse. He couldn't believe it. If she was a telepath, why hadn't she told him? Babylon 5 was known for giving telepaths refuge from the Corp. They'd even employed a number of them to fight the War against the Shadows. Hell, he had a rogue telepath standing right in front of him! Then again, most of the rogues hadn't come to them flying their colors either. If you're running from the Corp, you don't go around announcing to every Tom, Dick, and Zack that you're a Teep. He also surmised this would explain why she'd acted so weird this afternoon about her travel plans and again at dinner when he'd asked about her background. Lyta rested against the console and crossed her arms over her chest. Something was up. Looks like she came to the right person."What happened? Do you know this girl?" Zack looked miserable."Yeah, I met her this afternoon, fresh off the transport from Proxima 3. I took her to dinner at the Fresh Air and she collapsed. The Doc's working on her now." "You didn't know she was telepathic?" "No, she didn't happen to mention it. Maybe she was waiting til dessert." Lyta sighed and uncrossed her arms, tracing a pattern on the console with the tip of her finger."I didn't exactly announce myself to the whole galaxy when I was running either. Unless....." "Unless what?" "Well, maybe she doesn't know. Or she just found out. She may not necessarily be on the run. Yet." "You think they don't know about her yet?" Lyta shrugged. "You didn't." "Yeah, well, I'm not the Corp." "Thank God for small favors." Zack didn't think that was funny. Now wasn't the time for levity. "We'd better tell Franklin," she said. "I'm pretty certain she experienced a mind burst. A very severe one. Maybe I can help her." Zack had enough experience with telepaths to know what a mind burst was. He cringed. "Think you can?" "I can try. Most Teeps come out of it on their own though a really bad burst might take longer to recover from, which I suspect she had. I could help ease her back. Give her a cushion. And someone to lean on. If she's brand new, she won't have the slightest idea what's going on." "Let's go then." Zack got up and straightened his uniform. "They took her thru here." He led Lyta thru the door where Franklin had dissappeared and down the corridor. They found the Doctor and his staff working on Jessie in Exam Room #4. Franklin was looking over test results on an overhead screen. "Well, that's the fifth one that's come up negative. How's her vitals Mirren?" "She's stabilizing." "Maybe we should try a........," Franklin glanced up and noticed his new guests. "I thought I told you to stay outside." He directed his gaze at Lyta. "And what you are doing here?" Stephen always got grumpy when people didn't obey his orders. Zack was distracted for a moment, looking at Jessie lying on the examination table. They'd removed her clothing and jewelry and replaced them with a hospital reg gown. Her hair streamed out and fanned about her face. She was whiter than a sheet. Like a specter of the woman he had just been having dinner with not long ago. His stomach cramped again. Then he looked to Franklin. "I know you did, but Lyta came and told me something and we think you should hear it." Lyta recounted what had happened to her for the doctor and then they waited for his reaction. "A telepath, huh?" Lyta nodded. "I'm certain she is." "You think she experienced a mind burst?" Stephen had treated a mind burst patient once before. But she'd been younger, and had regained her faculties rather quickly. "Definitely. An extremely forceful one at that. I only caught the echo of it and it almost knocked me off my feet." "Alright." Stephen switched gears. "We just started a full workup. We'll map out a neural landscape on her, see if anything was damaged. Mirren & the rest of you, get cracking." "Yes, doctor." "Lyta, can you can stay? I could probably use your help. Especially if she comes to." "Yes, I'll stay." Lyta viewed the girl in front of her and felt sympathy and kinship. Welcome to the wonderful world of telepaths, she thought. "Zack, I need you to go back outside. There's nothing you can do right now. We've got something to go on now, so at least we know how to treat her. I'll let you know how she's doing." Lyta put her hand on Zack's arm. "He's right. It might be hours before she wakes up." Or days, she thought but didn't say out loud. She'd seen a few cases in Psi-Corp who'd had terrible mind bursts and didn't come out of it for days, even weeks. And they weren't always the same as they were before it had happened. She almost shuddered. Zack walked over to the table, reached out, and gently stroked Jessie's hair for a split second. Then he looked over at Stephen. "I want to know the minute she does. I don't care what time it is." He turned on his heel and left. He went straight thru Med Lab and directed himself towards the Security stationhouse. He needed something to do, might as well go and work on reports. Things had been a tad disorganized since Garibaldi jumped ship. He walked in and saw Donna D'Amico sitting in his chair, going over the next day's assignments. She raised her head, surprised. "Hey, Chief ,what are you doing here?" "Knock off the Chief stuff, Donna. You've known me as long as anybody here. It sounds weird coming from you." Donna knew he had a problem with his new position, but she also knew that wasn't what was bothering him at the moment. She got up and offered him his chair back and waited til he sat down. He looked like somebody had just run over his puppy. "I thought you'd be in Med Lab. Carlo called me awhile ago and told me what happened. How is she?" Zack rubbed his hand over his face. "Still unconscious. Doc thinks she had a mind burst." "A mind burst? She's a telepath?" "Looks like it." "Oh, Zack. Hell of a way to find out." "My thoughts exactly. Franklin said he'd notify me if something happens. I thought I'd come here and kill some time." He riffled thru the papers on his desk. "Anything I should know about?" "No, it's been pretty quiet tonight." She took a chair across from him."A couple of drunk Centauri were hassling patrons in the Dark Star. We brought em back and threw them in the tank til they sobered up. Oh, and one complaint of shoplifting from one of the merchants. The perp was gone when we got there but we got a description." She grinned. "Big and hairy, possibly male." "Big and hairy? That's helpful. You sure he wasn't drunk too?" "It's possible." She shrugged. "Oh well, sounds like you had a stimulating evening. I wish mine had been that boring." Donna opened her mouth to say something but just then the com on Zack's desk beeped. "Stationhouse, this is Reilly." "Allen here, go ahead." "Chief? Chief, we got a break-in in the Visitor Complex. One of the rooms has been ransacked. Some guy noticed the door half open and notified us. It's been forced." "Forced?Anything missing?" "Well, we don't know Chief. We can't seem to locate the occupant." "Alright, I'll be right there. What room is it?" "Number 774." 774??? He did NOT just hear that. He sat up straight."Reilly, say again?" "Number 774, Chief." Zack was getting extremely tired of surprises. He began to wish he hadn't got up this morning. He spoke tiredly. "Okay, secure the room. I'm on my way." Getting up, Donna followed him to the door. "Something wrong?" "Oh no, not at all," Zack said. "774 just happens to be the room of a certain telepath. The one that's presently lying in Med Lab, comatose." Chapter Six Reilly met Zack at the door of room 774. Zack studied the key lock. It'd been shorted out. There were traces of burn residue around it. Reilly spoke,"Looks like they blew the keypad and pried the door open physically. There's some scratches on the door from whatever tool they used. I've got Forensics on the way." Zack stepped inside. There were clothes scattered about the room, and jewelry strewn across the bed, next to Jessie's black flight bag. All the drawers in the little dresser and the nightstand were open. "Either this was an amateur operation, or someone was in a hurry," he said. Most professionals would not have left glaring telltale signs like a pried open door and the room a shambles. Unless they were pressed for time."Have forensics go over this place with a fine tooth comb. Try and get some prints. If it was professional, I doubt we'll find some, but check anyway." "Gotcha Chief. What about locating the victim?" "I already know where she is. She's down in Med Lab, unconscious." Reilly was taken aback. "She is? How'd you find out so fast? Is it something to do with the break-in?" "No, I don't think so." He waved the other questions aside. The forensics team showed up just then and carried out Zack's orders. Half an hour later they confirmed his suspicions. No prints were found but Jessie's . "What'll we do now, Chief?" "Seal this place up until we can interview the victim and find out what, if anything, is missing. And just in case this WAS a personal attack, I want a guard on her until she can talk to us. Reilly, get down to Med Lab. I'll let Dr. Franklin know you're coming and why." Reilly obeyed Zack and left promptly. Zack was the last one to leave the room before they sealed it up. He quickly walked to the nightstand, picked up a pale pink rosebud, and put it in his jacket with a pat, then strode out. Zack filed his report back at the stationhouse and sent a copy straight to Sheridan's office. Along with it he sent his personal information about Jessie and what had happened that night before the break in. He knew he'd be getting a call about it from him in the morning. Zack tabbed his comlink. "Allen to Dr. Franklin." "Franklin here. Go ahead." "How's she doing , Doc?" " No change. She's stabilized but still unconscious.We moved her to a private room. Lyta's sleeping on a cot in the room with her and your officer is stationed outside her door. She'll be fine." "Good. I'm going to try and get some shut-eye. Tell Reilly I'll relieve him in a few hours." "Will do. Franklin out." Zack got up and went to the couch in the corner of the office. He took his coat off to use as a blanket and curled up, attempting to shut out the events of the evening. He'd just gotten settled when he heard the familiar chirp of his comlink yet again. He groaned and pulled himself up to acknowledge. "Allen.Go." "Zack, it's me again," said Stephen. "I just checked on her. She's awake." Zack flew to the Med Lab as if on wings. He had a million questions to ask this girl but first he just wanted to know she was alright. He practically skidded into Franklin and Officer Reilly outside her door. "How is she?" "She's fine, Zack. Groggy and a little disoriented, but all her tests so far have come up negative. I'd like to keep her another day for observation, then she should be good to go." "Great. Can I talk to her?" "Yes, she asked for you in fact. Go right in. Lyta's with her. I'll check back in a minute." Zack stepped in and saw Lyta sitting in a chair next to Jessie, who was propped up slightly in bed. Lyta looked to be soothing her. "It's alright,this happens to inexperienced and untrained telepaths sometimes. You'll be okay. I know you're afraid but you can trust me. I'm not going to hurt you." Jessie let the tears roll down. She looked terrified. Zack cleared his throat. Her head jerked up. "Zack!" He came to her bedside and touched her shoulder. "Hey, what's with the tears?" "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell but I couldn't. Please, don't let them take me!" She looked over at Lyta. Zack crouched down to eye level. " Shhhhh. Nobody is taking you anywhere. You're safe here. This is Lyta Alexander. She's not with Psi-Corp anymore. She's here to help you. I wouldn't let anyone hurt you." He wiped her eyes with a hankerchief Lyta handed him. Lyta pulled him aside. "She's terribly frightened. She's disoriented from the episode and if she doesn't let me help her she's going to have another one." Zack nodded and turned back to Jessie. "Jessie, I know you're scared but you're also not well. You've got to let Lyta help you or you'll get hurt again. I'll stay right here with you." Jessie agreed and let Lyta approach her. "Do you know about building walls?" Lyta asked her. Jessie nodded. "Okay, I'm going to help you build one but you need to let me in. Don't resist it and it won't hurt. Take my hand and let me guide you." Lyta took the hand Jessie offered and closed her eyes, mentally talking to her and guiding her through the steps. After Jessie got over the initial shock she marveled at how it felt to share with another telepath. A few moments later Jessie visibly relaxed. "There, how do you feel?" "Better, thank you," Jessie said. Lyta smiled at her. "You're welcome." She noticed Zack seemed anxious to talk to Jessie so she excused herself . "I'll let you two talk and come back later." When she was gone, he asked Jessie,"Can you tell me what happened?" She sighed. "I was having trouble shielding my mind. I haven't been used to being around so many people since I became a telepath." "How long have you been one?" "About 2 years. My mother wanted me to get some experience with it before we left." "Left? Where?" "I don't know, anywhere. She said we'd have to keep moving if we wanted to stay ahead of the Corp." "Do they know about you?" "No. I don't think so. Not yet. That's why we were going to leave. Then she got sick with Melen's disease and she died about a month ago." "So you were going to go it alone?" "Yes." "To where?" "I told you, no where in particular. Just away." She could still salvage some of the plan if she avoided questions about her destination. Zack didn't need a telepath's scan to tell him she was lying. He knew she was hiding something. He sat in the chair next to her. "Somebody broke into your room tonight while you were out. Do you know anything about that?" Jessie got a fearful look on her face. "My room? No. Why would I know about that?" "Were you carrying something? Something valuable?" "No. Nothing. Just clothes and a few personal belongings." Zack handed her a list of everything they found in her room. "Check this and see if anything's missing." She quietly read the list, then her eyes widened. Her heart plummeted. "The crystal," she whispered. "Crystal? What crystal?" She looked numb. "Jessie! What crystal?" She started to cry. "The data crystal," she said softly, between the tears."And the vids! He told me to destroy all the old vids but I couldn't. It was all I had left. I only kept a few. Oh God!" She saw everything crashing around her. It was all over. She knew it had be them. Psi-Corp. They knew about her and if they had the vids and the data crystal, they knew about her father too, and exactly where to find him. And it was all her fault. Zack tried to get her to talk to him again. "Jessie tell me. What crystal?" It didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered. What the hell. She took a deep breath. "The crystal with the instructions on how and where to meet my father. The one he sent." He looked puzzled. "You said your father was dead." "Well he isn't, but he probably will be soon, thanks to me," she sobbed. "Jessie, who broke into your room?" He asked more forcefully. "Why are they after your father? Are they after you?" "I told you I don't know! Leave me alone!" Jessie wished she was still unconscious, so she wouldn't have to deal with any of this. Just then Franklin and Lyta walked in and saw Jessie crying and curled up in a ball on the bed. "What's going on?" Franklin asked,concerned. "I was trying to ask her some questions about tonight and...." "Couldn't you have waited til she was rested? Look at her! I thought you just wanted to see her." Franklin put his foot down. "The interrogation will have to wait until morning. She's been through enough tonight, Zack. I want her to rest." Zack hated walking that thin line between his job and his emotions. One side of him wanted to pump her until he got some satisfactory answers. The other just wanted to hold her, and make her, and himself, feel better. "Alright," he said. "Alright, I'll go but something is definitely not right here. I'm leaving a man on to guard her until I get some answers. I'll come back in the morning." He watched Franklin administer a sedative to Jessie then walked out with a few words to Lyta. "Watch her." "Don't worry. I'll stay all night. Get some rest." He nodded and made his way to his quarters. That's exactly what he intended to do. Things HAD to get better in the morning. He planned to sleep until then. Later that night, a hush fell over the usal busy hum that filled Babylon 5. Med Lab was quiet. The lights in the halls had been dimmed to represent the artificial "night" cycle. A lone figure took adavantage of the twilight and quietly crept along the corridors til they arrived at a room marked Lockers. They stole in and helped themselves to full med tech garb and a clipboard for added professionalism ,which now held phony papers attached to it.. Backing out, they acquired a gurney and headed directly for room #8, the number having been acquired thru certain channels.Coming close to the room, they made out the figure of an officer with a PPG at his side standing at the entrance. That had been expected, hence the disguise. They approached the officer and handed him the false papers with a pleasant smile. "Doctor Franklin has ordered another neural scan to compare with the last one. It should only take 20 minutes or so and we'll be bringing her right back." Reilly glanced at the papers. They checked out.. "Okay, go ahead." He stepped aside. The false tech wheeled the gurney in quietly and surveyed the room. There she was. The tech's eyes swept over to the other woman nearby, lying on a cot, fast asleep. They'd known of her presence there. She needed to be taken out of the equation. She might wake up and alert the guard too soon. By all rights, the tech thought, we ought to be taking care of this one too. Lyta Alexander was not unknown to them. But she was not their primary concern right now. Only the girl. The tech looked behind them thru the window where the guard was visible. He was watching for danger outside, facing away from the room. Perfect. They reached underneath their med tunic and withdrew a syringe. Quickly but silently they went to Lyta's side. In a flash, they placed an iron hand over Lyta's mouth and expertly plunged the syringe into her exposed arm. Lyta's eyes flew open but the stranger's hand put a stop to any attempt to scream. When the serum had been delivered they dropped the syringe from their other hand and restrained Lyta as she briefly struggled. Very briefly, as the strong serum quickly took effect. She was out in seconds. The tech checked the guard. He was still facing away from the room. The tech picked up the syringe and replaced it underneath their tunic. They walked up to the girl, concentrating,and gave her a quick surface scan. She was definitely out and likely to remain so for awhile. It looked like the good doctor had already sedated her for them. They took the girl in their arms and slid her over to the gurney. Then they wheeled her into the hall. "We'll be back soon." Reilly nodded acknowledgement. The tech rolled the gurney down the hall and around the corner, out of sight. The night staff was light, there was next to no one in the hallways. No one to stop them or ask questions. Jessie was taken thru a maze of corridors and ended up at the dead end of a service hall. The tech removed their stolen costume and produced a pair of jet black leather gloves which they proceeded to put on. They went to an access panel in the wall and removed it, then went back and gathered up Jessie.They put her inside then went in after her, free now to take her anywhere in the station unobserved. All according to plan. Chapter 7 It was 02:30. Zack had gotten a few hours of sleep. Troubled sleep, but sleep all the same. Then the call came. From Sheridan. It doesn't take a genius to know if the Captain calls you at 2:30 in the morning, either you're screwed, you're about to be screwed, or someone you know is screwed and you're involved. It was the latter. "Zack." "Yes,sir." Zack wiped the sleep out of his eyes and tried to focus on the Captain's face on the monitor. "I read your report on Ms. Devereux. Very interesting." He called in the middle of the night because of the report? "I meant to discuss it with you in the morning sir. I didn't think it was pressing enough to disturb your sleep." "Well, it's urgent now Mr. Allen. Your lady friend is currently M.I.A. I got a call from Franklin about ten minutes ago. She's gone and Ms. Alexander has been drugged." "WHAT??" "Apparently a phony tech claimed Franklin needed her for a neural scan, complete with authentic papers. The guard waited half an hour, then went to look for Dr. Franklin, wondering what was taking so long. They figured things out pretty quick and ran back to the room. Somehow the unknown tech managed to drug Lyta with a very powerful sedative and take off with Ms. Devereux. Doc says they gave Lyta something really strong. Apparently they didn't want anyone raising the alarm. Franklin gave her a counteractive drug, she should be coming out of it soon. Anyway they're scouring the corridors now, starting with Med Lab. I thought I'd call you myself. Is there anything you can add to this? Franklin says you were questioning her earlier." Zack could hardly speak. How did this get out of control so fast? "I.......uh.....I asked if she knew why anyone would break into her room. She said no. I gave her an inventory of her things and asked if anything was missing. She got extremely upset and started talking about a data crystal and some vids being gone. She said the crystal contained information on meeting her father whom she had told me earlier was dead. Then she refused to talk and Franklin said to let her rest. I thought I'd pick it up again in the morning. I left Reilly there to watch her. And Lyta." "I'm not blaming you or Reilly, Zack. You both did your jobs. This was definitely well planned and executed. I'd like you to join the search." "Immediately. I'm on my way." "Good. Inform me when you've got something." "Yes, sir. Allen out." The screen winked out. Gone. She's gone. I barely got to have dinner with her and now she's been kidnapped? What the heck was wrong around here anyway? First date he's had in a long time and he gets mixed up in this. Then he let himself start to worry. Who knew who or what had taken her? Would they hurt her? She was so delicate and she'd been thru alot physically in the last couple hours. Something not even meant to be harmful might injure her. Zack would never forgive himself if she was hurt. He should have stayed there himself. He threw his uniform on and raced to Med Lab to join the search. When he got there, there was already a fair number of his personnel assembled. A couple of them were in Jessie's room waiting for Franklin to finish with Lyta. He was helping her to sit up. Zack told the rest to go in teams to help search Med Lab immediately and then sent a few more to go help officers in the docking bays and customs. He wanted to close off any escape routes. Someone might have Jessie but they weren't going to get off the station with her He stepped up to hear doc talking to Lyta . He handed the shaky telepath a glass of water. "Drink this but slowly. Don't make yourself sick." He watched her carefully. "That's it. Good. Just take it slow. Are you alright? Can you focus?" He ran a few rudimentary tests to make sure she was alert. "I'm okay," Lyta said. "Just a little woozy." She drained her glass and handed it back. Zack sat down next to her on the bed. "How ya feelin' kid?"he joked. He felt responsible for her current state. "I've been better, thank you for asking." She managed a halfhearted smile which was promptly dropped at his next question. "What do you remember?" He'd already gotten a description of the tech from Reilly. Older female. Mid 30s to 40's. Height and weight approximation. No distinguishing marks. Lyta shook her head. "Not a whole lot. I was sleeping and woke up suddenly. It had felt like someone stuck me with something. There was a hand over my mouth. It hurt. I tried to yell and struggle. They held me down and then I blacked out. That's all. It was too dark and too quick for me to even see a face." "That's okay," Zack said. "We got a description from the guard. I thought you might have something to add." "Actually, I might. I think your tech was a telepath. When I struggled I tried to scan. They were blocking me. I could have overcome it if I'd had time. That's probably why they chose such a fast acting drug." "Great, just what I didn't want to hear. Do you think it was Psi-Corp?" "Are the Centauri pompous asses?" Franklin snorted. "Cute Lyta. I'll be sure to share your sentiments with Ambassador...excuse me.....Minister Mollari." "Please do." He shot her a look. Then the full impact hit him. Wait til he told Captain Sheridan they had Psi-Corp running around the station. He was gonna go right up the flue, as Garibaldi would put it. He wasn't too thrilled with the prospect himself. "So, we've got a possible Psi-Cop on our hands? That's interesting." Franklin threw his 2 cents in. "They know they aren't exactly popular around here. And they obviously came on the station thru less than standard channels. They must want this particular girl pretty bad." "But why," said Zack. "She was never tested. She just left the colony for the first time in her life. How'd they find out about her so fast? Plus, they have a lot of 'blips' running around here, including Lyta. Why target Jessie?" "She must either have information, or something in her possesion they want." "She told me all that was taken were some vids and data involving her travel plans." "Travel plans winding up to wherever her father is she said," said Lyta. "You think they might be after her father?" "It's as good a guess as any. Did she ever mention her father being a telepath?" "No. Or her mother. She told me they were both dead til I questioned her before the kidnapping but nothing else." "Okay, so secretly she's on her way to see her father, giving out the story that he's been dead since before her birth. Why say he's dead? Maybe he's not supposed to be found." "So, what, they're using her to get to her father? Then you gotta wonder why HE's so important." "Let's assume he's a Teep." said Lyta. "Kept his daughter a secret to avoid her being taken by Psi-Corp. It wouldn't be the first time someone inside has tried that. Her mother dies, he decides to run with his daughter. They find out, don't know where he went, but decide to use her to flush him out, and they end up with both." "But how'd they find her?" Lyta shrugged. "I'm just guessing here." Zack paced the floor trying to sort things out. They heard fast paced steps coming towards them and an officer came into the room. "Chief, team 6 radioed in. They found something in a dead end service hall on the east wing. A gurney and a tech's uniform." Zack whipped around. "Dead end? You sure?" "Well, there is an access panel that leads to the air ducts. The central ones." "Central ducts. Great. They have access to most of the station without being seen. Send a team in after them. See if they can pick up a trail. I'll send guards to all the access panels on the main level. Maybe they're hiding inside trying to keep it quiet til they find an opening to get to the docking bays." "Will do." The officer left. Zack grimaced and then called Sheridan and informed him of the new developement and their hypothese on why Jessie was taken. "An unauthorized Psi-Cop!?? On MY station??!?" Sheridan hovered on the edge of turning purple. Yep, Zack thought, right up the flue. "It's just a theory,Captain." "I don't care. I don't like it. Not at all. Bester knows I will not tolerate any Corp activity on this station without my knowledge and I'd say this falls into that category, if you're right. Damn it!" The sound of a fist connecting with a desk followed. Franklin whispered, "I think he's upset." Zack frowned at him. Suddenly everyone's a comedian. Sheridan calmed down some. "Sounds like you have things covered. Use as many people as you need. When you find the perpetrator I want them brought to me immediately. Understand?" "Yes,sir." Easier said than done. Sheridan signed off. Zack sighed. "I'll never date again. I swear it." Franklin looked amused. "Never's a long time, pal." He took pity on him. " Look, Zack, we'll find her. You've got half our people looking for them and a station wide alert for Jessie. They're not going to have an easy time of it. Jessie only just arrived yesterday afternoon. I have a feeling they planned to nab her before she got to know anyone that would miss her. They probably didn't plan for the whole station to be looking for her." "Yeah, I know. But this is the Corp. They're sure to have a back up plan if she's really as important to them as we think." "Well, that's why you gotta find em before they come up with something." "Gee, thanks." He got up. "I'm going to head over to the rest of them up there. I'll leave a few officers here, make sure we didn't miss anything. Lyta, you can go get some sleep. I'd say you earned it." Lyta stood up, a little wobbly. "Thanks Zack. Let me know if I can help again." He nodded and walked out, giving out miscellaneous orders to his staff that was still there. Then he headed up towards the main level to join the search. Things were not progressing well. It was well into mid morning of the following day after a long and exhaustive night. Nothing had turned up since the discovery of the discarded tech garb in the service hall. Zack had ordered a shift change and the fresh bodies were on their way now. A few of the more determined officers asked to stay on, not willing to admit defeat. He was proud of them. He tried not to show them he was troubled but they were all probably thinking the same thing. The longer it took to find them, the more time the perp had to get off station with Jessie. "Chief, you should get some sleep." It was Robbie from customs who was one of the "fresh" bodies just arrived. He handed his boss a cup of coffee, a valuable commodity these days, since the break from Earth. "I'll bet you haven't slept more than 2 hours in the last 30." "That's about right. I couldn't sleep anyway, Robbie." He took the coffee. "Excuse the expression, but where on Earth did you get this?" Robbie grinned. "Commander Ivanova caught me on the way out of mess hall earlier. She gave it to me for you. Said she had a stash for emergencies, but I better not tell." He chuckled. "Guess I just did." Zack sipped the steamy beverage. God bless Ivanova. He owed her one. "Well, we can always black mail her with this later." Robbie laughed. "You officers have it too plush. Me, I got to drink some interesting green concoction. I was told the Drazi think it's great." He wrinkled his nose. "They can have it." Another officer approached them looking like he could hardly keep back what he had to say. "Chief? Can I talk to you for a minute?" He pulled Zack over to the side. "What is it , Clemens?" "Chief, we just got a guy Jensen says came thru here on a red-eye from Mars last night demanding to see the Captain. He wants information on the girl and refused to say anything else." "Where is he now?" "We're holding him in the customs office." Zack sped over to the office with the officer right behind. He saw a man sitting in a chair with his back to him, apparently not cooperating with the officer questioning him. "I told you I demand to see Captain Sheridan. This is extremely urgent." Zack spoke up. "I'm Chief of Security, maybe I can help you." The man spun the rotating chair around and Zack was blown away. Chapter Eight He was the spitting image of Jessie Devereux. Or she was his. They both had the same color hair and eyes and sharp white features. The personality differed greatly though. This guy looked like he was used to people jumping when he spoke. But he didn't seem nasty. Just agitated. "Maybe you can get me the Captain. I don't have time to mess with these officers." Zack found his voice. "Are you Mr. Devereux? Jessie's father?" The man's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I will not talk to anyone but your Captain." Zack went up to him. "I'll get him immediately. I'm sure we'd all like to hear what you have to say." He tabbed his comlink and requested Sheridan to meet him pronto. While they waited Zack let his mind wander. So this was her father. He looked to be in his early forties. He also looked like he hadn't slept in days. He seemed to be running purely on adrenaline. Zack offered him the rest of his coffee. He looked at him warily but accepted it. "Thank you." "No problem," Zack replied. When he reached for the cup Zack finally noticed he was wearing black leather gloves. Seemed Lyta was right in some of her assumptions. He must be a telepath. And he did indeed appear to be someone who was used to authority. The man seemed to be studying his surroundings very intently. Almost like a................. No! Uh-uh! Zack blanched. Please, not him too. Sheridan strode into the room as he came to his conclusion. "And who's our guest here, Mr. Allen?" The man stopped everything. "Captain, I want to talk to you. Alone." Sheridan glanced at Zack, then back at the man. "Alright. Every one else leaves except my Security Chief. Whatever you have to say, he'll need to hear too if it's about the kidnapping." The man agreed somewhat reluctantly. Everyone else filed out leaving the three of them together. Sheridan took a seat and gestured for Zack to do so also. Then he spoke. "Would you like to start with who you are?" The man sat up straight in his chair and gazed steadily at the Captain. "I'm Edward Forrester. I'm Jessie Devereux's father." "Forrester?" "Her mother took her maiden name when we were forced to have a divorce." "What do you mean forced?" Edward leaned forward. "Captain, I came to you because I have certain sources that say you can be trusted. I hope they are not wrong in this?" "I would also hope they are not, Mr. Forrester." He considered Sheridan's words for a few seconds then made his decision. "As you've probably figured out already, I am a telepath, Captain. As is my daughter. I am in fact a Psi-Cop. Or was, I should say. I left my post one week ago." The Captain and Zack both sucked in their breath simultaneously. I knew it! Zack thought. Score another one for Lyta. Sheridan leaned forward in his chair. "You're a Psi-Cop?" He got up and started to pace. Then he turned to Edward. "How do I know I can trust you? You're clearly the girl's father just from your appearance, but how do we know all this isn't some sort of elaborate set up by the Corp for something? You'll forgive me if I have a problem with this." "And you'll forgive me if i don't have the strongest confidence in you right now. How do I know you won't turn me over to the Corp? It's known, your distaste for the Corp, Psi-Cops in particular. Look Captain, I had no intention of ever setting foot on your station until this situation occured. Jessie's presence here was a necessary evil. A stop on her way to me. Now something's happened and I need to find her before they get her off this station. They intend to use her to get me back no doubt." Sheridan gazed at the man. He acted sincere, and truly looked upset about his daughter, but he wanted to make sure. "If what you say is true, you wouldn't object to a scan?" "A scan? Captain, I'm not playing games here. This is my daughter's life we're talking about." "I understand that, but you have to understand my position too. We've been screwed over by the Corp, particularly Cops, several times. You're correct, I'm not exactly fond of them and I don't trust them. If you're playing straight with me, then a surface scan while we talk to test your truthfulness isn't going to hurt anything. If you refuse, you're welcome to spend your time in the Brig until this situation is over with." "Alright, fine, get someone in here to monitor me if you must, but do it quickly." Sheridan dispatched an officer to go and round up Ms. Alexander. She arrived soon, looking much refreshed after last night's ordeal. She approached Captain Sheridan." My wake up service says you rang?" "Lyta, this is Edward Forrester, Jessie's father. He wants our help but I want to know I can trust him first. I want you to monitor him for truth while we talk to him." Lyta did not look thrilled. She spoke to Edward. "You're from the Corp, aren't you?" "Not anymore, Ms.Alexander. I've left them for good." "I guess we'll see about that." She took a chair, placed it across from Forrester, and sat down. "Ready when you are, Captain." Sheridan started questioning him. "You are Jessie's father, correct?" "Yes." "And you are.....were.....a Psi-Cop until recently?" Lyta's eyes widened at this but she made no comment. "Yes." Sheridan looked at Lyta for confirmation, she nodded. "Alright, we want to know exactly what's going on. You level with us, and we'll help you. Understood?" "Yes, Captain. What do you want to know?" Sheridan waved his hand. "Start at the beginng and end up with your daughter being kidnapped from our Med-Lab." Forrester looked upset by that. "Med-Lab? Was she injured previously?" Zack spoke up. "She had a pretty nasty mind burst but she was recovering when she was taken." Forrester whispered,"My God." Then he spoke as if to himself. "I should have gone and gotten her myself. I should've known this was too dangerous for her alone." His features were pinched as if in pain. he looked over at them "You want the whole story,fine." He started. "I was 20 yrs. old and married at the time. To a wonderful woman. We were very much in love. Then one day, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I had been at work and it felt like an explosion had gone off in my head. When I came to in the hospital, I was surrounded with Corp representatives. The hospital had reported my incident to them as a possible telepathic episode. They tested me for 2 days and then came to tell me the joyous news that not only was I a telepath, but a P-11. They let my wife see me finally, and she was in tears. The Corp had been to our house and packed all my things already. I refused to go, said I'd take the sleepers, but they told me "unofficially" this was not an option. I was very promising they told me, and they needed teeps of my caliber. I told them I wouldn't leave my wife. Later that day, a Cop came to visit me and gave me 2 choices. I go into the Corp and co-operate, and they consider letting me keep a "mundane" wife, or they force me into the Corp and I never see her again. Naturally I took the first one. I told Celeste everything would be fine if we went along with them. They took me and trained me for six months, all the while promising I could see my wife "soon." Finally, I demanded to see her or I would stop cooperating. They brought her to the Training Center a few weeks later and said we had 2 hours together. It was horrible. Celeste told me she'd been to the Center, or called almost every day and she was given the same run around that I had gotten. Then she started getting warnings that she desist her actions or disciplinary actions would be taken on me. The visit was over too soon. I was told she could visit again in a few months if my performance was satisfactiory." He paused a moment. Lyta found it hard to summon shock at his story like Zack and the Captain were displaying. She'd heard stories like this all her life. Edward continued,"Another couple months went by and they had me start interning with the Psi-Cops. I went along with everything, on the assumption I'd get my wife back. Then the other shoe dropped. I was informed by one of my superiors that a suitable genetic mate had been selected for me and that my divorce proceedings with Celeste were underway. I was struck dumb. I HAD a wife. I went crazy and they had to restrain me. I look back now and wonder how I could have been so stupid as to believe them that first year. I should've seen that I'd never be allowed to stay with Celeste." He cleared his throat. "When I finally realized there was nothing I could do about it, I requested that I be allowed to see Celeste one last time. They magnanimously allowed me to spend an entire day with her at our house. Under surveillance of course. They weren't taking any chances that we would try and run. Celeste told me that she had conceived on our last visit. She was almost 4 months pregnant. I was beside myself but there was no way we could run. We talked long into the night and made plans. I told her to go to Proxima 3 as soon as possible, before they found out she was pregnant. Make a new life for herself and keep our child safe. There was no other choice. I told her somehow I would find a way to communicate with her. We were heartbroken when we parted. I was never with her again after that until almost 17 years later. I married the teep they'd selected for me and the years passed. When I became a full fledged Cop I found a way to communicate with Celeste. I set up a phony business address half a world away and had vids with our messages sent thru there every six months. We were never together but at least I saw her and got to watch my daughter grow up. When Jessie was about sixteen, I was ordered to Proxima 3 to pick up some packages that were too delicate for a simple courier. I couldn't believe it. I had a full 24 hours with my wife and daughter. It was better than I could have imagined, but like always, it was over too quickly. Then, two years ago, I receive a vid from Celeste validating my deepest fear. Jessie had manifested telepathic abilities. I stepped up my recordings to every 3 months, to try and teach Jessie the basics and mostly how to conceal her ability from others. The plan was when she had a handle on her skills, she and Celeste would leave the colony and hopefully, I could join them one day, and we'd be together again. Then Celeste contracted Melen's disease and her health deteriorated quickly. I never had a chance to get to her. She......," He choked on his next words. "She died a month ago." He turned away for a minute, trying to compose his face. Sheridan felt for him. He knew what it was like to have your wife die while you were parted and have been helpless to do anything about it. Zack sat motionless. He wasn't sure what to think about all this yet, and he didn't like how the story was going. Edward went on. "I finally decided to do what I should have done years ago. I let them frighten me into submission and ruin my life and the lives of those I loved, but I decided they weren't going to get away with it any longer. I sent Jessie a data crystal with travel arrangements and informed her she would be met by someone on Mars when she got there. I helped a few rogues escape some years back and they were returning the favor . They had arranged for us to be smuggled off of Mars and to a place near the old Markab sector. They had friends hiding me until Jessie arrived. I got to Mars and was told Jessie's transport was rerouted and was going to be held over at Babylon 5 for a week. I didn't worry too much. She'd been told minimum contact and she's so shy anyway I knew she'd probably just stay in her room by herself." At this 2 pairs of eyes wandered over to Zack and he shifted uncomfortably. Edward didn't notice. "Anyway, I was on Mars about a week ago and one of the group hiding me says he saw a woman showing my picture around the flight station and questioning if anyone had seen a young woman in my company.From his description it had to be Liza, my telepath wife. Then she boarded a transport for Babylon 5." Sheridan looked puzzled. "Your wife knew?" "She must have found out somehow. I don't know how, but she did." "Then why would she come here? Why not wait til Jessie arrived on Mars?" "One, I don't think she knew what Jessie looked like and Jessie was supposed to get a phony I.D. while she was here. Two, I think she wanted the credit for capturing Jessie and me herself with no help. This was personal." "Why?" "Because I didn't love her. She probably thinks I betrayed her and the Corp by leaving. My wife is a firm believer in the Corp. Also, I bet good money she wants revenge. She and I had a son about ten years ago but he died in infancy and she was left barren. She never got over that and blamed me. When she found out I had a daughter by Celeste that was in hiding.............She undoubtedly went into a fit. Liza is not a very stable woman." "So you think your wife has Jessie?" "Yes, and that scares me more than just another person in the Corp having her. Liza has a lot of rage built up. She might harm my daughter." "So," Zack summed up, "somehow your wife found out about your plans and came here to intercept Jessie. She must have found Jessie by her name yesterday, she never had a chance to change it." "That's what I was afraid of. I tried to get here as fast as I could when I heard about Liza, which is probably what she was hoping for. I tried but never got thru to Jessie's transport and I was afraid to leave her a message here. I had hoped to beat Liza here. I knew a few shortcuts. Guess it wasn't good enough. " "Well, Mr. Forrester, I'm terribly sorry about your situation ,what would you suggest we do to help?,"said Sheridan. Forrester was silent for a moment."I think you need to back off on your search. Liza isn't a stupid woman. She'll just try and wait you out." "What a mess," Zack said. "Yes, it is," Forrester said quietly. "Something I should never have let happen. I should've left the Corp years ago and taken back my family. Now Celeste's gone and Jessie is missing........this all my fault." He stared at his hands. Sheridan spoke up. "Sounds to me like you did the best you could. You kept your daughter safe, and you couldn't know your wife would contract Melen's disease. Nothing's ever certain in life, you just do what you think is best." "I should have gone and got Jessie myself. She wasn't up to this. She's been terribly sheltered her whole life." "So," Zack said, "What do we do?" "I think we need to flush her out with just the right bait,"Edward said. "Give her what she wants." He leaned his face against his hand and gazed out the office window. "Me." Chapter Nine Sheridan protested. "I'm sure there's another way." Forrester faced the Captain and shook his head. "I don't think there is. She definitely wanted me to know of her plans to come here. She wasn't exactly subtle. She's going to want to bargain for Jessie eventually." Zack looked hopeful. "You think she'll give her back?" "No, they'll use her like they used Celeste to manipulate me. Probably say if I come back and behave, I'll be allowed to stay in contact with my daughter and a bunch of other bald faced lies to that effect. I know what'll happen. I'm a P-11 Cop that went AWOL. If I do go back, I will not be welcomed with open arms. I'll be "adjusted." Perhaps a personality workover. As for Jessie, they'll probably do the same to her. We wouldn't even remember each other's existence." Lyta nodded assent. "He's right. That's typical procedure. Blips who won't rejoin the fold are recycled and made into productive members of the happy little Corp family." "And you want to hand yourself over to her?" "Want to, no. But I'm willing to exchange myself for Jessie. You back me up and make it clear to her that there is no way she will leave the station with my daughter. I'll come to her willingly if she gives her up. You would give Jessie asylum, and Liza gets to take me back. " "If we lure her out of hiding, I'm sure we could manage to keep you both safe." "How? If we lie to her about my giving myself up, she'll know. It won't work." Lyta looked uncomfortable, like she wished she wasn't about to say what she was going to say. "I have a suggestion." The three men looked to her. "I can deliver the message to her. She won't be able read me." Forrester appeared intrigued. "So, it's true then. The Vorlons did change you." "I prefer the term 'enhanced'. You've heard of me then?" "Ms. Alexander, you are THE talk around the proverbial water cooler back at headquarters. Your file is extremely popular among the powers that be." "I'm sure. How flattering for me. I must hold a seminar back home sometime." Edward smiled for the first time. "I'm sure they would appreciate it." Zack got them serious again. "How will you talk to her?" "I can send to her. Trust me, she'll hear it,"Lyta said ruefully. "So, we get Lyta to negotiate an exchange somehow. We set up a place for it, grab your daughter back, and send your wife on her merry way. Well, maybe not merry." "Sounds rather simple,Captain. Simple usually blows up in your face." "Not if we do it right," Sheridan said. Jessie was cold. She came to, shivering, and with a most pungent smell assaulting her olfactory senses. She coughed and tried to sit up. She attempted to put her arms out for balance and became aware that they were tied behind her. The light was very dim. She could see no more than a foot or so in front of her. She had no idea where she was but she knew this was definitely not Med-Lab anymore. "Hello?"her voice quivered. "Hellooo.....What's going on? Can somebody help me?" Her voiced echoed slightly, as if in a cavern. Water dripped down from overhead, perhaps condensation from unseen pipes. She heard a shuffling and then a soft thud as if someone had sat down near her. Then a gentle female voice penetrated the darkness. "No, my dear. I think not. You're a long ways away from help. At least the kind you mean. But very soon, you will get the help you require. I'll see to that." The gentle tone was not soothing considering the words Jessie heard. "What's going on? Where am I? Who are you?" Fear gripped her . "Questions, questions, so many questions! You are your father's child I see, not just in looks." Then a small laugh. "If I'd known you looked so much like him, I could have saved myself a trip here. Ah well, no matter. I haven't had a vacation in such a long time.The scenery has been mostly pleasant. Til now, I'm sure you'd agree. These are not exactly deluxe accomodations now are they?" Jessie made no reply, she was too frightened. "Now don't go quiet on me. I didn't say I wouldn't answer your questions. Presently, you are in what's known as "Down Below." Not the most lush spot in the station but suited to our needs just now. As soon as I get the other thing I came for, we'll be on our way home. Wouldn't you like that dear?" "Proxima 3?" She was confused. "No, dear, I said home. Your new home, waiting for you on Earth. You'll love it. The gardens around the compound are quite lovely this time of year. Better than that nasty old colony you've been hiding on . Very naughty of you by the way but we'll try not to hold that against you. It was your parents mistake really, not yours. I'd say your mother has been duly punished though. That just leaves your father." "My father? Why are you talking about my parents? What compound? I don't want to go to Earth!" She let loose a flood of tears. "Who are you?!" "Hush now,dear, no use making yourself sick. Well, you may have looks but you're certainly not very bright. All those boogey stories your parents probably fed you about us and you still haven't figured out who I am yet?" Jessie felt a horror she'd only felt snatches of previously. "The Corp," she whispered. "Ahhh, I see that jogged your memory. Yes, my dear, the Corp. Well, not me personally. I am just a humble member of a very loving family which has come to take you home. And your father. Seems he took a leave of abscence and forgot to inform us. An oversight, I'm sure. Which will soon be corrected." The bodiless voice changed to faked concern. "Oh, you must be terribly cold laying there on the floor. Let me help you up." Jessie flinched at the rough grip that yanked her up to a sitting position. "That better? Good," it replied without waiting for an answer. The hand reached out again and none too gently pressed a hand to her hair. "I had hoped for a daughter once." The voice sounded wistful." You're just like I imagined she'd be. Oh, probably not as becoming as you. She would've had me for a mother , not yours," she ended, almost in a snarl. "I never quite measured up to your mother in the looks department. Your father never let me forget that." Through her hazy thoughts, Jessie grasped the woman's meaning. She was shocked. She'd never thought to meet this woman. "You're my father's wife!" "Right again, dear. I'm honored your father even mentioned me to you." She got up and moved closer to Jessie."Did you also know you had a brother once? A beautiful baby brother. Died in his sleep from unknown causes, or so I was told." Her voice took on a steely edge. "I never believed them. I think you're father had something to do with it. Especially since I never conceived again.He refused to sleep with me after I conceived Jason. He said he gave the Corp a child and that was all he agreed to do. Artificial means were tried but they failed. He did something. Poisoned the child most likely. And me. Tried to do away with his unwanted family!" The voice grew hoarse with poorly suppressed anger. "My father would never......" "QUIET!!!" The hand that had caressed her hair struck out with the full force of a twisted and misguided rage. It hit Jessie in the face so hard it flung her head back and slammed it into the unyielding metal wall behind her. Pain exploded behind her eyes and the warm salty taste of blood filled her mouth. "Quiet!", the woman's voice hissed. " Don't you talk back to me! What do you know of your Father?" Jessie groaned in response and spat blood out the side of her mouth. "Oh, dear. Look what you made me do. Why do you want to make me hurt you? Can't you see I want to help you ?" An arm reached out. Jessie tried to wriggle away but she was pulled gruffly forward. "Stop that now," she was admonished. "You behave yourself and we won't have any more unpleasantness." A cloth was pressed to Jessie's mouth. "Keep that there til the bleeding stops. Oh, you can't, can you? Well, the blood will keep it there." She snickered. There was muffled rustling, then a gleeful noise from the woman. "Aha! I knew that lamp was here somewhere. Let's get a little light on the subject shall we? Then we can finish our little woman to woman chat." A spark as a light was struck, then a circle of luminescence a radius of maybe ten feet took shape as the lamplight filled the dark void. Jessie winced and then adjusted to the light. A woman's form took shape directly across from her. Then the face came into view. "You!" Jessie showed surprise. "Yes, tis me. Your friendly B5 Welcoming Commitee Rep, Liza Sherry at your service." A slow smile developed. "If you'd payed attention you would have known there is no such thing. But your naivete' was just what I was counting on. You know if you had stayed in your room, this would have been much easier for both of us." "Why did you do that?" "The Rep thing? Well, you see, I didn't know what you looked like.So I got your name from the directory and played my little part to get a look at you. I planned to visit you with a complimentary gift basket later but you messed that up didn't you? When I saw you were gone, I decided to check your room. See if anything there would lead me to your father. While I was inside some nosy little man alerted security. I should have been more careful but I was in a hurry. Silly of me. I snuck out before they got there. You know I found your vids. You should have gotten rid of those." Liza dug in her satchel and came up with a few vid casings. "I didn't really need these but I was curious. I viewed them before I came to get you. Very touching." She dropped her phony smile, brought her fists together and smashed the vids with her bare hands, then dusted them off like it was nothing. Jessie recoiled. "You won't be needing them. You'll be seeing him soon, I wager. If he's not here, he'll find us when we reach Mars." "Mars? I thought you said Earth." "All in good time dear. I wouldn't think you'd be so imaptient to get there. No, first we have to get daddy, I told you that." "So, why are we here?" "A spark of intelligence after all, hmmmm? Well, my love, you can thank yourself for this. If you'd been a good girl and done what daddy told you to, we'd have been long gone on a freighter I chartered. But no, you were out galivanting around the station with the Security Chief of all people. Nice choice. You do have style, I'll give you that. Pretty gutsy for someone on the run. Or just plain stupid." Liza leaned back against the wall and stretched her legs out. "Anyway, because of your little liason, we now have the entire station looking for us. So we'll just have to wait around until this dies down some, and then we'll be going. Get comfortable, we may be here awhile." She snatched the blood soaked cloth from Jessie's face. "You look a little peaked dear. Maybe you should rest some more." She withdrew a syringe from her tunic. Jessie didn't like the looks of that. "What's that?"she asked shakily. "Just a dose of Sleepers. A telepathic suppression. You know what they are, you had some in your room. I can't have you trying something on me, or having another mind burst.You understand. Another one of those and you 'll be permanently scrambled. We wouldn't want that." "No, please.........don't, I won't do anything." "Sorry, but StepMommy knows best. Hold still." She expertly administered the dose. Jessie wondered vaguely why the woman hadn't scanned her for information on her father's whereabouts. "I did," said Liza. Jessie was startled. "I've been scanning you continuously.You're too wiped from your mind burst to have noticed. You don't know anything. Wise of your father. But we'll find him." She patted Jessie's knee. "It takes effect in 3 to 4 hours. Might be faster in your case. Until then you just behave yourself. I wouldn't like to have to discipline you again." Jessie agreed silently. "Better get some rest, I'm sure you'll feel better later. Then we can talk some more." She laid Jessie down on the floor and covered her with a blanket, pretending to tuck her in. "There's my girl," she cooed softly, then doused the light. She chuckled softly to herself and moved off a few feet . Jessie never felt so alone and frightened. She wished her father, Zack, anyone at all, would come and get her away from this woman. The tears rolled silently off her face as she tried to shut it all out and think of her mother's face to keep her sane. Chapter Ten "Wake up. " Jessie felt Liza shaking her slightly. "I said wake up!" Jessie was jerked upright. She let out a cry of protest. "Stop your whining. I'm not in the best mood. You've got to get up. We have to move." There was shuffling in the dark from Liza scooping things up quickly and stashing them in her bag. "What's going on?"Jessie asked. "What's going on?" Liza mimicked. "Is that all you ever say? What's going on is I told you we're moving. Now GET UP!" She grabbed Jessie by the shoulders and yanked her to her feet. Jessie cringed as the bindings on her arms pulled tight. "Ow! I'm coming! Stop it!" Liza slapped her, making the bruise on her face a bit larger. "You move when I tell you and NO speaking unless spoken too." She settled the bag on her arm and pushed Jessie in front of her. "Just remember, my PPG can scream louder than you can, so I wouldn't try calling for help." Jessie felt the muzzle pressed against her back as they started walking. Jessie figured they must be going near people or Liza wouldn't be worried about her making noise. At least the exercise was getting the kinks out of her muscles. That floor had not been conducive to sleep. Again she wondered where they were going. "As close to topside as is safe." Liza answered her mental question. Jessie shuddered, she wished that woman would stay out of her head. "Even I was not thrilled about being so close to the refuse recycling plant. We'll follow the ducts to a place I marked out before. A couple days tops, and we should be able to get out of here. I'll have to find another mode of transportation. As much as I detest the thought, I might have to hire alien help." Jessie was getting very sick of Liza. She'd had just about enough of her scare tactics and abuse. She'd been through so much fear and emotion the last day or so she was beginng to become numb to it all. "Why don't you call your stupid Corp? Can't they come and get you?" Liza shoved her. "I don't NEED any help. I'd say I'm doing pretty well so far." Jessie stumbled but refused to allow it to get to her. "I'm hungry. Were you planning on feeding me?" "You'll eat when I decide you can, and not a second before.You keep this up and you won't get anything. Lord have mercy, if you and your mother were both this whiny, your father should have thanked me for taking him away from all that." She giggled nastily. A furious look washed over Jessie's face. She whipped around to face Liza. "You know nothing of my mother! She was more of a woman than you could ever be! My father loved her , even though they were seperated for 20 years. THAT'S what you can't understand. I'll bet no one ever loved you a day in your life!" She was practically screaming. Liza, without missing a beat, raised the muzzle of the PPG level with Jessie's head and triggered the power cell. Jessie heard the whine as it charged itself. Liza spoke low, but emphasized every word with a snarl. "Maybe I should just do everyone a favor and shoot you right here. Fry your sweet little brains into goo. What do you think?" She pressed the gun to Jessie's temple. She didn't need to be a telepath to figure out the woman was quite serious. Jessie trembled but stood firm. She hoped it would be over quickly. She breathed a quick prayer and squeezed her eyes shut. There was complete silence except for the clinking and clanking of the pipes overhead in the tunnel. Then........ Jessie heard the woman suck in her breath sharply. She forced her eyes open. Liza had dropped the pistol to her side and looked stunned. She seemed to be concentrating on something only she could hear or see.This went on for a few minutes, then the woman turned her face to Jessie and leveled the gun at her again. "Well, my dear, it seems like we've both gotten what we want." A grin that could only be described as evil appeared. "Looks like Daddy has come for you after all. And he wants to deal for you. Something curious though. It wasn't him that just communicated with me. It was a woman. I'd be willing to bet it was that freak Alexander woman that let the aliens mess with her mind." All Jessie could heard was that her father was here. She knew he'd save her! "Yes, I can see how excited you are. Don't get your hopes up. The only option there is is that your father gives himself up and we all go back to Earth. Otherwise............if he tries anything, the only one going back will be me.You understand?" All too well, Jessie thought. "Good. Well, I guess our plans have been changed again. We're supposed to meet your father alone in a few hours. No doubt he's planning something with the help of the Station people here, but it won't work. If I have to , i'll cut my losses, meaning you, and leave. And we both know he wouldn't want that. " She prodded Jessie, indicating her to start moving again. Jessie thanked God again in her mind. Her father was here and that's all that mattered. She knew he would save her. He had too. Zack paced the floor. This wasn't going to work. He had a very bad gut feeling about this. The sound of his name pulled him out of his reverie. "Zack," he heard again. "Yes,sir," he answered the Captain. "I'm sorry, I was......." he searched for a word. "Brooding," Sheridan supplied. "Yeah," Zack grinned a bit sheepishly,"Sorry." Sheridan waved his apology away. "Don't worry about it. We're all a little uptight about this situation. I'm sure it's not pleasant to be personally involved. It's not easy feeling helpless to aid someone you care about." "No, sir, it isn't." He looked around the Stationhouse. Most of the team he had assembled were already present. They were just waiting for a few more. Everyone had been briefed and they were getting ready to move out. Edward Forrester walked in, looking less than confident himself. "I'm ready, Captain." Sheridan nodded as the rest of Zack's people came in. "Okay," Sheridan addressed the group. "We're ready to go. Just remember, try to avoid firing at all costs, but if the girl or Mr. Forrester are in danger of their lives, use your own judgement. " He turned to Edward. "Remember, we'll be in posiotin around the empty storage bay. We'll be able to see you at all times. You've got to try to maneuver her so she's standing alone, and we'll move in and take her down. If things get hairy , we'll come in too. But from what you've said you'll have to move quickly." "Yes, I can only block her so long. She'll sense I'm not alone and she'll try to find out what I'm hiding. We have to get her before that." "We've got a sharpshooter," Sheridan pointed to Donna D'Amico. "If she refuses to move away from your daughter or threatens her, D'Amico here can take her out with one shot." Edward nodded. "Let's go then." They all filed out and headed for the storage bay where the "exchange" was supposed to take place. They were professional men and women, and good at their jobs. But still, it was never taken lightly when it was possible you might be walking into gunfire. You just worked as a unit, covered each other, did your job, and hoped no one got dead in the process. Therefore there was not the usual chatter present as they walked towards the rendezvous point. They focused themselves on the task ahead. Chapter Eleven 16:30 hours. Earth standard time. Liza was an half an hour late. He knew she was trying to phsych him out, unbalance him, keep him off kilter. She loved to mess with people's minds, he thought. No pun intended. He sighed and shifted position, leaning against an empty crate left in the bay. He knew Sheridan and his people were sequestered around the room in various forms of camouflage, behind crates and boxes, and some on the catwalk overhead, hidden in shadow. None dared to talk, as Liza could be on her way, and nearby. That woman! He should've run long ago. Sometimes he couldn't make up his mind which was worse. Being in the Corp or being married to a crazy woman. She was certifiable and he wasn't the only one who had complained of her to the powers that be. Unfortunately, she was a favorite among certain officials in the Corp, her "success" rate in her cases as a Cop gave them reason to smile. They didn't care HOW she did it, as long as she kept it up. It gave him great guilt at times, but now and then, when he allowed himself to think about it, he was almost glad his son had died so soon after birth. There was only a life of misery and control in store for him in the Corp, and goodness knows what having Liza for a mother would have done to the boy. It was better he had died. He heaved a silent sigh. It was also better that Celeste was gone now and not around to see this present mess. Their daughter was in great jeopardy and all because of his carelessness. He had underestimated Liza and it might cause Jessie her life. What became of him was no longer important. All he wanted now was for Jessie to live her life free of the Corp. These people had promised to help her no matter what the outcome of today's impending confrontation. Sheridan had given his word. And though it had been hard to come by the last twenty years, Edward still had trust, and he put it in Sheridan now. He scanned his eyes around the bay. He could've sworn he heard something. Off to the left. He nodded his head in that direction, an officer confirmed with a wave it had been heard by them also. Then the officer quickly concealed herself again as the noise grew closer. The grating over an air shaft near the floor rattled for a moment and then fell to the floor. A human form was pushed out quickly, onto the floor of the bay. Edward immediately saw the red hair. Jessie! He made a move towards the girl , but was brought up short by the sight of a PPG, Psi-Cop issue, appearing in the grate hole. "Stop right there, Edward!" An all too familiar voice materialized out of the darkness inside. " You come any closer and you won't be a father much longer." He backed off. "Very good. I'm coming out now. I have no qualms about making myself a widow either, so I suggest you keep a good distance." Gradually, an arm followed the pistol holding hand, followed by the rest of Liza. She crawled over to Jessie, still bound at the arms, and dragged her up with her, to a standing position. Edward made a small but intensely furious noise when he got a good look at Jessie's face as her head was snapped back by Liza's rough handling. She had a large, good sized, grossly colored bruise across the side of her face, dried blood around the edge of her mouth, and numerous scratches. Her hair was in complete disarray and her eyes were glazed over as if she'd been drugged. And though she had a blanket draped around her, Jessie was still wearing only a hospital gown, and was barefoot. "What have you done to her,Liza??!! My God, I'll kill you!!!" He clenched his fists in rage. Over in a dark corner Zack also was completely infuriated and heart sick at the sight of Jessie. He had been telling himself all along that she would be alright. He wanted to pound his fist against the wall. "Kill me, my love?" Liza snorted. "I think not. You don't have the stomach for that. You never have. That's why I've always been in good favor with the Corp and you haven't. You haven't got the nerve to carry out what needs to be done. In the Corp, or out of it. Unless , of course, there was that one time, hmmmm? Our son?" She shot daggers at him with her eyes. "You remember that, don't you? True, I wouldn't have thought you had it in you, but who else had so much reason to kill him?" "You're crazy, Liza. A bona fide nuthouse candidate! The boy experienced crib death and you know it. He was my son! I could never have killed my own son, even if you were his mother. " Edward glanced at Jessie. She stood there, stock still, not even trembling. She seemed to be experiencing shock. "Let her go Liza. I'm not asking, I'm telling you. Let her go, and I'll go back with you to the Corp. That was the deal." "Oh no Edward. That was your proposal. One made to me by proxy. It was that Alexander woman wasn't it? The Vorlon science experiment? Very clever of you. I couldn't read her for truthfulness at all. And she was awfully strong to send to me across the station." She laughed offhandedly. "You know, maybe I should just forget you both, and go after her instead. I'd probably be promoted for bringing that one in." She smiled at him. "Another time perhaps. Now,as I was saying, that was your deal. I only agreed to meet you to discuss it. Well, as far as I'm concerned we just did and........." she leveled the gun at him, "I've decided I don't like that deal. You have two choices Edward. Either A: You come with me now and we all three go back home, or B: You resist or try and pull some stupid stunt that only gets your daughter or yourself killed. The only way I would go home empty handed is if I had to kill you both. Our superiors would rather I brought you both back alive. It would be such a waste to kill you, but I have the option to do so if I deem it necessary." She waved the gun at him. "Go ahead, take a few minutes to decide. I've got some time." He looked at Liza carefully. She was serious. She'd do it. Most likely, she had had every intention of killing Jessie. An eye for an eye. She thinks I killed her child so she's going to take mine. "You won't get away with it. Sheridan and his people, they'll never let you get off this station if you kill either of us." Her eyes widened. "The Renegade Captain and his Nefarious Crew? You think I'm afraid of THEM?" She hooted thru her laughter,"What could they possibly do? Throw me in the brig? You and I know the Corp wouldn't allow me to stay there for long. In the end, I'd be more trouble for them than I'm worth. I bet the last thing they want right now is another visit from their good friends at the Corp. And even if the Corp didn't come and get me, so what? You think I really care? I'd finally be even for everything you've done to me." "Done to you! That's funny Liza. The only thing I ever did to you was try to cut you out of my life! It was no secret that I didn't love you. I told you the day we were married that I wanted nothing to do with you, ever. The Corp said they didn't care about our personal life as long as we provided them with at least one child. So help me God, I did that. Against all my better judgement, but I just wanted you out. And yes, he died. From natural causes. And you were left barren afterwards. Well, I feel sorry for you Liza but that had nothing to do with me. And it had nothing to do with Jessie. Now you let her go, and take me back instead. That should make you happy. I assume I'll be "adjusted". I'll wind up the perfect husband for you. I think that's worth letting her go." "Well, I don't! I want to hurt you. I want to see you suffer! See how you react to YOUR child being taken from you!" "Where have you been !?! My child, my WIFE, were both taken from me twenty years ago!" He ignored the gun and walked towards her."You think it's possible to make me suffer any more than I already have?" She pressed the gun to Jessie's temple. Jessie still seemed oblivious to everything that was happening. Liza challenged him with a look to keep moving towards her. Edward stopped about 5 feet in front of them. "Yes, I think it's possible," she said. "All I have to do is pull the trigger." Edward tried to think clearly thru his rage. He knew now that one way or the other, sooner or later, she was going to kill Jessie. And it was going to be sooner if he didn't stop provoking her. He remembered that he was supposed to get her away from Jessie so the cavalry could ride in. Then he wiped that away quickly, before she could pick up on it, in case she was scanning. He decided to distract her with more talk. He held his hand up to indicate he was not going to move. Then he met her gaze. "I'm curious. How did you find out about all this. And when?" Her eyes narrowed slightly. He was up to something, but she decided to play along . "About your little family?," she answered, indicating Jessie witha slight wave of her other hand."Obviously, I knew about Celeste. You never let me forget she'd been your wife,did you? I never quite believed that you had no contact with her whatsoever. I assumed you would try to find her someday, if you didn't already know where she was. I applaud you Edward, you kept a good secret for almost 2 decades. I tried to probe you numerous times but I never found anything. I asked the Corp once to deep scan you but they said it was immaterial and unecessary, that even if you did have contact with her, you'd never get away from them. I let it go, just keeping an eye out for trouble. Then about a month ago, you seemed terribly agitated. I went into your office one night 2 weeks ago to check around and I got into your communications records. Seemed you had uploaded numerous data crystals to New Orleans in a very short amount of time. Being curious, I investigated. I went there and found nothing but a storefront. I got ahold of your landlord and he refused to talk about you, so I scanned him. I learned you had hired him to send data to and from Proxima 3 at certain intervals, and to be most discreet. He didn't know what the data was, but apparently you had just released his services, telling him he was no longer needed. So, I started investigating what could be of interest to you on Proxima 3. I talked to the private courier service who's name I'd gotten from your guy. All they knew was your data was sent to the same woman every time. Very beautiful, I was told. And she had a daughter. That was it. I knew it then, why all the secrecy. You didn't want us coming after your daughter. I informed our superiors as to what I'd learned and they informed me you hadn't shown up for work yesterday and was still missing. Then we got the word from police on Proxima that Celeste was dead and your daughter had left on a transport headed for Mars. I went to Mars to see if I could pick up your trail. When I asked around, I was told Jessie's transport had been rerouted to Babylon 5 due to mechanical problems. I figured a golden oppurtuniy was at hand. I get to her first, and flush you out. And it worked, didn't it?" She fairly beamed. She looked at him trimphantly. So triumphantly, in fact, she was distracted for a split second and lowered her gun. That was all Edward needed. He charged her, covering the distance between them in nothing flat. She screamed in fury, and attempted to fire at him, but he got there first and knocked her hand away. She held onto the gun, but the shot burst a crate wide open , revealing an officer. "NO!" Liza was livid. "You won't beat me! I'll shoot her, damn YOU!" She whipped around frantically, searching for Jessie. Edward attacked her again, attempting to grab the gun. Sheridan and the strike team burst forth but could not shoot for fear of hitting Edward. Zack went to Jessie immediately and cut her bonds. She appeared to awaken from the trance she had been in. She quickly looked from Zack to her father , saw him grappling with Liza, and screamed. "Daddy!" Edward whipped his head around at the sound of his daughter's voice. A reflex that cost him his life. Liza gained control of the gun and fired into his chest. He reached for Jessie as he fell, but he was dead before he hit the ground. "DADDY! NO!" She shrieked and, without warning, pulled free of Zack's grasp and ran towards her father's lifeless body. Zack reached for her and yelled, "Jessie! Stop! Get out of the way!" D'Amico had trained her gun on Liza and had been about to fire but Jessie blocked the shot. Liza grabbed the girl by the arm as she passed and pulled her against herself. "Drop your weapons! I swear I'll kill her!" Liza was wild-eyed and breathing heavily. Sheridan ordered everyone to hold their fire, but they had encircled her and Jessie and Edward's body by then. "You've got nowhere to go," said Sheridan, his pistol raised. "You will not be harmed if you give up the girl. Release her and we'll take you into custody." "She's mine! Lawfully she belongs to the Corp and you know it. There's nothing you can do, Captain, except let me take the girl and go. You can't keep me here!" She shook with rage. "You just shot and killed an unarmed man. Lawfully I CAN keep you, telepath or no. Don't make this any worse for yourself." " He's dead from his own stupidity! I was attacked. Your bargaining tactics leave something to be desired, Captain. I'm leaving and that's all there is to it." Liza closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could. One by one the officers and Sheridan started wincing and holding their hands up to their heads as flashes of pain shot through them. Liza spoke smugly, "Welcome to the world of a P12 telepath, boys and girls." She held onto Jessie tightly and made her way cautiously towards an opening made by the incapacitated guards. Zack fought the intruding pain with all his might. He knew Jessie's life depended on it. He saw Liza making her move and put out a hand to attempt to stop her. "You're not going anywhere with her, "he gasped. Liza turned her attention fully on the Security Chief. He winced as his pain almost doubled in intensity. "Nice try, Chief, but your girlfriend belongs to me now." Liza moved farther out towards the edge of the circle. Jessie desperately looked into Zack's eyes as she struggled . She felt herself sharing his pain. It cut her to the core and awakened something deep inside herself. Other than her parents, this was the first person who knew about her abilities and truly cared for her . She had lost both her parents now and was about to lose Zack too if she didn't do something fast. All her fear melted and transformed into blind fury. She had the ability to protect him , if she could only harness the power she knew she possessed. Almost on instinct, she acted and built a protective wall between Zack and Liza. The suddeness of the interruption of power backfired upon Liza. She screamed and held up her arms as to deflect the onslaught of pain. Jessie, now free from her grasp, faced Liza and projected everything she had at her with all her might. The woman screamed again as she was bombarded with the full force of Jessie's rage. Sheridan and the others, now free from Liza's hold, looked upon the scene, astonished. A few minutes before, this girl who was overpowering a Psi-Cop hadn't looked like she could wrestle an Icarian flea. Now she had this madwoman on her knees. Just at that moment, while they were still gathering their senses, Lyta Alexander came racing into the bay. She skidded to a halt at the scene before her. "You've got to stop her! The strain could kill her! I've seen it happen. She isn't trained to handle this!" Zack turned towards Lyta,panicked. "Why don't YOU do something?" "I CAN'T! I already tried! Her abilities are terribly erratic. I'm afraid if I interrupt her I might hurt her even more!" Meanwhile Liza was on the floor now, too pain wracked to even scream anymore, only able to get out a few pitiful mewling noises. And Jessie stood over her with a look of pure, white hot fury. Then they noticed the trails of blood trickling down her face from her nose. "Jessie, stop it!" yelled Zack. "You're hurting yourself! Please!" She heard him as if from far away, only a small part of her mind registering his words. The rest was focused on the woman in front of her, the woman who had beaten and abused her, the woman who had just taken her father away from her. She didn't even know how she was doing what she was doing. It felt like animal instinct. Protect yourself and your loved ones. Then she remembered who she'd been trying to protect. "Zack?" she whispered . Zack looked relieved and reached for her."Yes. Stop now." "Zack, I'm scared, I.......I can't stop." She trembled visibly. "Yes you can. Just let go. Let go of her, she can't hurt you anymore." He went and stood next to her. "Just let her go." "I'm trying, Zack." She was still staring at Liza. Zack came around and stood in front of her breaking her line of sight. "You can stop. It's okay." He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her, cradling her head, shushing and soothing her like a newborn. "Zack?" she whispered with effort. "What?," he answered gently. She grasped his hand. "It hurts." she said simply. And she felt her mind give, releasing Liza. She went frighteningly limp, almost collapsing to the floor. Zack swept her up instantly. "Jessie?" He shook her, scared. "Jessie! Oh c'mon...don't do this to me now! Answer me dammit!" There was no verbal response from the young woman. She had nothing left, everything she'd been thru had taken it all away. She opened her eyes and gazed at Zack , trying to impart what she felt for him and that she was grateful he had tried to help her. With effort she raised her hand to his cheek,and gave a small sigh. Then she quietly let go, with a fleeting thought that now she and her parents might be reunited, and be happy together. Zack, tears welling up in his eyes, looked pleadingly at Lyta. The woman, feeling grief of her own for the girl , shook her head at him ,confirming his fear, and turned away. Trembling,he sank to the floor of the bay ,wiping the mixture of blood and tears from Jessie's face with his hand. Grieving for her and for himself, he gently rocked her body back and forth,burying his face in her hair. Sheridan and the other officers moved in on Liza. "Better call Franklin and get someone up here on the double, she doesn't look good." The Captain didn't look like he was all that upset about it. He took Liza's gun and handed it to Ramirez. "I want this for evidence, in the case of her prosecution for Mr. Forrester's death. Something tells me that may never happen though, once Psi Corp gets wind of this." He sighed. Psi-Corp was going to be the death of him yet. Chapter Twelve A week had passed. Liza had been quickly picked up by the Corp. Too quickly, thought Sheridan. They must have been waiting for her in the wings. He hadn't had much choice but to let them take her. He couldn't exactly appeal to EarthGov at the moment. Besides, Franklin had deemed her clinically insane before they got her. She wasn't going to be much good to the Corp anymore anyway. Seems Jessie had shorted out any fuses Liza may have had left in her already unstable condition. And callous as it may seem, nobody was losing any sleep over it. Zack had kept to himself since the day Jessie and her father had been killed. Sheridan kindly offered him a day or two off, but he felt he'd rather keep busy, and declined it. At first, he thought he saw her everywhere, and it made his chest hurt. He wondered how a woman he only knew for two days could have had this much effect on him. He hated it at the same time he desperately clung to her image. She'd been young..only 20.... His heart asked the age old question of why this had to happen to her, why so young, and why just when he had found her. Her belongings had been brought to the stationhouse, and thus to him. There was no one to send them to. She had no other family. He knew he should get rid of them, but he found himself taking her small bag and putting it on a closet shelf in his quarters telling himself he'd take care of it later. He did however, give her mother's jewelry to Lyta, who had tried not to cry when he presented her with them. He thought Jessie might have liked her to have them. He kept the Centauri "barrette" she had worn on their date for himself. He'd known it wasn't a barrette at the time. Londo wore a similiar brooch on his coat from time to time. He assumed the merchant had told her it was a barrette just to make a sale, but she looked so pretty, he hadn't had the heart to tell her at the time. Sighing, and yet finding himself smiling at her memory for the first time, he pinned it on the inside of his jacket . Close to his heart. The End Note: This was an original story (Copyright MiraDelenn 1998) written by the author. It is not related to Babylon 5 , Warner Bros, or TNT in any way. This may NOT be reproduced in whole or in part without the express permission of the author. Thank you.n it all away. She opened her eyes and gazed wrnj f b#^#Z?&VE&R:4N>4Jl^ >4>w?s?nIjIfoQbpQ`R\RXIcTMcPgLl^ g!gvqr qp|l |hTdd_{[WiSjQMl^ wsqmhd_ [ Y7U7PALl^ A{CwCLsKLoAPkBPgrhch^?ZOU@QMLH wdskokfDbh^?ZOU@QMLHf #i\^"&w''((l)l)**,-f--(..a/0S22333 4!4s4455B557d7n8::;=ADEyHyMyQyTy9XyAXyRXymXy<mXXyXyXyFYyxYyYyYyZy]]y]y^y ^yP^y^y^y^y_y_y_yay<ay'@y@y@yAyAyAy{Cy<{C~CyTEyHy.JyJyqKyKyKyWLyeLyXMykNySOyOyOyAPynPyPy3QyQy<QGRySySySyTyUyXUyVyVy+WyWyWyXyYygy~gy,hy.hyhyhyiyiy/jyjyjy,kylyRmymymyGnyGoyoypy<pipypypypyqyqyqy ry;sytyvyAwywyMyyyylzy{ym{y{y%|y<%|l|yt|y|y}y}y}y!~yi~y~yyCyy yyؒyyyܗyyiy<iHyPy y3yy)yyyȞyyϟyy&yIyyyyMyOyy<]yynyyHy_yyy_yӨy$y^yyByyĪyyyyy<y9y;y|yѭy#y!yyFyαyy*yKyyHyyyyXyyty<ty y̽yy yyʿyydyyyyyyyyyAyTyy<yByyyyyMyOy'yyyfyy8yyyyy=yy<yyyyyyryyyyyyy5yyyy,y yy<)yvy;yxyyyy;yyyyyy,yySyy'yyy<y&yyyVyJy)yyyyyhyy y y&yyyyy<ywyyyyyyryyfyyy- yg y y.!y "yw"y#y#y<#=$y$y\%y&y&y(y(y*y(-y-y-y3.yv.y/yC0y1y1y92y{2y2y<2)3y344$78&99:f::::::I;;<~<<<<===F>>?O??(@CCCCCCDD<~<<<S*s;0S!`p    bBC K)N;L*]mH~_Rȴyyyyy}yyyyyyyeyyKy<Times New Romanyyyyyyyyyy@yy#yyyyy<